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"The Trail of Lights has become something that's not the priority for us in this year's budget. We have fallen short on park maintenance for several years," Mayor Lee Leffingwell said.

Council member Bill Spelman agrees, saying it's time to spend more money on places people enjoy year-round, and the nearly $375,000 it costs to put on the Trail of Lights would go a long way.

"Given the state of our parks, given the increasing demand for use of our parks, and given the fact that we haven't been able to maintain them as well as we needed to for the last 10 years, this would be a good time for us to right that balance," Spelman said.

He said spending money on maintenance would result in better-kept trails, mowing and more frequent trash pickup.

Leffingwell said even if the Trail of Lights is a thing of the past, some parts of it would likely stay.

"Keep in mind, we're not doing nothing. We're still going to do the Christmas tree that we've always done. Frankly, that's an asset to the city," he said.

At this point, the future for the the Trail of Lights itself likely depends on a private donor.