The Killeen City Council voted six to one Tuesday night against implementing an almost $6 monthly transportation utility user fee that would have been included on property owners' water bills.

The money would have provided funding for street maintenance.

During the meeting, interim City Manager Ann Farris said one of the consequences of not approving a transportation utility user fee could be drawing down on city fund balances, which could lead to staff cuts.

Farris did not specify which departments could face cuts.

The council chambers were full as nearly 50 firefighters from the

Killeen Fire Department attended the meeting, waiting to hear whether the council approved the fee.

Killeen Professional Fire Fighters’ Association President Marc Clifford said he had been told by fire department administration staff that if the proposed fee didn’t pass, the city may have to cut 37 firefighters who were hired in May under a SAFER Grant, which stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response.

“There’s a very real possibility that 37 firefighters that accepted that position in May could be terminated,” Clifford said.

Clifford said he was told that the city would face two options if the fee was not approved.

“Either continue the internal budget cuts, which, in this case, would result in the loss of personnel, or to draw down the reserve fund to a very low level,” he said.

Killeen City Council Member Jim Kilpatrick voted against the utility user fee, but he said the council is not going to allow public safety to be drawn down.

“We need those firemen, we’re going to keep those firemen,” Kilpatrick said.

He said the city council controls the grant funding, not city staff.

"Plus, that's a federal grant. If we defaulted onto it, not only would it not save us money, we would have to pay back all monies to do to the federal government for what we had drawn from that," Kilpatrick said.

Tuesday night, the council also voted to cancel the city's curbside recycling services, saving nearly $300,000.