Cheney's current expense woes

Cheney Mayor Tom Trulove calls it the “trouble fund.”

It’s technically known as the current expense fund, or the general fund. It’s the section of municipal government whose revenues rely mostly on that five-letter word citizens hate most — taxes.

And yet, like a drink with multiple straws, it’s the fund many municipal departments rely on to operate — departments such as police, fire, courts, administration, finance and, to a much lesser degree in Cheney, parks and recreation. And like other cities around the state, Cheney has found its current expense fund shrinking in its ability to keep up...