As all Americans are well aware, July 4th is a federal holiday that celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 when the United States declared their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. When America celebrates the holiday many things come to mind as tradition for the holiday such as parades, carnivals, barbecues and most of all, fireworks.

Over the past decade safety regulations, laws and rules have been banning consumer use of fireworks in local jurisdictions. Regardless of the restrictions, states that have liberal firework laws often help the spread of more powerful fireworks into states that have banned fireworks. Even though fireworks have been banned for personal use in some areas, there has always been a local public display to help ring in the 4th of July celebration.

This year in late June, Cocoa Beach, FL announced that the city would not host a Forth of July fireworks display this year citing a downturn in the economy. The city manager of Cocoa Beach, Charles Billias, said the display cost around $70,000 and was too expensive for the cities budget. One of the major expenses cited was $28,000 to $30,000 for the barges. In 2007 the fireworks display in Cocoa Beach was said to be one of the largest in Central Florida with a half hour length. You can read more about the Cocoa Beach display cancellation at Local6 news station in Florida here.

San Diego County in California had it’s 2nd largest city cancel their firework display in December 2007. Residents of Chula Vista, California were not alerted until the end of June when signs started being posted telling that a fireworks display would not be held this year. Although residents were upset and news stations spread their displeasure, city officials said it had to be done when costs were cut by more than $15 million from the city budget. A large side cost to the actual fireworks display for Chula Vista was said to be police overtime and traffic control creating $35,000 in extra city expenses.

While those are two extremely large cities in America that have canceled their displays due to budget constraints, smaller cities all over America are reporting the same problems. Towns like Abington and Bridgewater in Massachusetts are basically begging for help from local businesses to help with their displays. “Because of the economy, most of our corporate sponsors have not made the contribution they have in the past,” said Kathy McCarthy, a member of Abington’s “Night Before the 4th” committee. You can read more about Abington and Bridgewater’s firework budget woes at this news report here.

An interesting echo across towns in America is not really that city budgets can’t handle the cost of the firework display expenses. The real problem seems to be that donations, cities depend upon to sponsor the displays are not coming in or being canceled even at the last minute this year. Cities that are being open about their sponsorship contribution shortage are cities like Treasure Island, St. Pete Beach, Tarpon Springs and Plant City. You can read more about these cities budget woes and what they’re trying to do to solve them here.

With cities running short on cash and canceling firework displays left and right there are heroes in our midst stepping in to save the day. One city being helped by a hero is mentioned above as canceling their show due to budget constraints, Treasure Island. The cities of Madeira Beach and Treasure Island will have a display because of the Rice family, owners of Gators Cafe and Saloon in Florida. The Rice family donated $15,000 to make sure local residents had a display to view. Another city mentioned above had a local business hero too. Dave and Lisa Ulgenalp own a local restaurant chain throughout the central and west central Florida and donated $18,000 to Tarpon Springs for a fireworks display. In Katy, Texas another local business hero was found when Luis Gutierrez, regional manager of Warehouse Pool Supply, stepped forward with a $15,000 donation. “Thanks to Gutierrez and Warehouse Pool, the celebration will now go on as planned” a city official announced.

With cities experiencing steep budget cuts, the future is looking more grim for firework displays than in 2008. This is mainly due to city budgets usually being planned a year in advance. In tough times budgets are felt well into the future when cities try to clamp down on extra expenses. With cities feeling the pinch of the tough economy due to budget constraints and decreased sponsor donations it is also providing a shining light on some of the most patriotic Americans and businesses one can find. You may find that next year your local firework display will be provided by your patriotic neighbors and businesses willing to step up to the plate to keep America’s strongest 4th of July tradition alive, firework displays for all.