PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Portland’s budget woes may lead to a fizzling Fourth of July celebration.
A nonprofit group says it’s having difficulty raising money for the biggest Fourth of July fireworks display in the state. And the city’s mayor doesn’t want to help.
The Portland Press Herald reports that Mayor Ethan Strimling believes the city can’t afford to chip in when it’s struggling with higher-priority items like a jobs program and school funding.
The newspaper reports that taxpayers have spent more than $100,000 since 2015 on the event, which is billed as privately funded.
The annual Independence Day celebration draws more than 50,000 people to Portland.
In recent years, the Portland Symphony Orchestra has performed. But it’s already been cut because of the fundraising woes.
