A $155,000 expenditure may sound like a pittance when you’re looking at a $12 million wish list, but city officials hope it will make a monumental difference in the way Colorado Springs residents interact with City Council members.

On Wednesday, the mayor’s office unveiled a proposal to take $12 million out of the city’s reserve fund to pay for several projects, with most of it — $10 million — going to flood and wildfire mitigation efforts and emergency preparedness.

But City Council will also be asked to OK a $155,000 expenditure to purchase software for a new legislative management system that will track council legislation and voting records, and make it easier for people to communicate with their elected officials through a two-way, web-based forum.

It will also automate the council’s agenda-preparation and approval process, and reduce the need to use thousands of pieces of paper each year.

“We have a pretty archaic system of our agenda process with City Council, and there is not a lot of dynamic engagement with the citizens presently, other than through email and telephone and personal interaction,” said Laura Neumann, the mayor’s chief of staff.

The mayor’s office said the new system will allow residents to participate in online discussions and forums, and make it easier for them to track down their representatives’ voting records and archived videos of meetings. The current process is “arduous,” she said.

The system would have an ongoing cost of $85,000 a year, the city said.

Other recommendations for the $12 million include:

• Using $300,000 to replace 12 motorcycles for the Colorado Springs Police Department. The city says the motorcycles “support CSPD’s breakthrough strategy to improve public safety in target areas.”

• Putting $1.42 million to implement the first phase of pay raise recommendations for city employees. The first phase would boost the average pay for “sworn” police department employees by 4.6 percent. Fire department employees would get an average raise of 7.4 percent. The recommendations grew out of an independent study launched in June.

A second phase would tackle pay raises for civilian employees. Neumann said the civilian category was more complex to address, so more time was needed to implement the raises.

The city reserve fund has grown since the depth of the recession, and got a big boost last year from an increase in sales tax proceeds. Taking $12 million out of the fund will drop it below levels that experts in municipal finances recommend, but Neumann said the general fund reserve is meant to address emergency and critical needs.

“Like big purchases you have personally, whether it’s a new roof or buying a significant investment, you dip into your savings account for it.”

New council members Jill Gaebler, left, Keith King and Don Knight visits with the public after the swear-in ceremony for the newest City Council members Tuesday, April 16, 2013, at City Hall. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK