Tribune editorial staff

In essence, a city or other municipality is no different than the common household.

As is the case for us all, when the money coming in is less than the amount that needs to be paid out, something has got to give. When our bills outweigh our paychecks, what do we do? We either look at ways to cut spending or find ways to raise additional money, such as picking up an extra job.

In the City of Ironton's case, it is a gap of more than $500,000 between revenues and expenses that has leaders looking for ways to make ends meet. Nine employees have been laid off, one was saved by moving to a vacant position and another vacant position was not filled. Cutting expenses, however, could be more detrimental than finding ways to raise money at the expense of the citizens.

A municipal tax, income tax increases, service fees and other ideas were discussed last week at a public forum. While nobody wants to see their taxes raised or additional fees assessed to their bills from the city, it makes more sense than cutting services to the city's residents.

Think about it. How upset would you be if your garbage was picked up a day late due to manpower problems? Chances are, you wouldn't be too happy, especially if an animal got into it and spread it about your yard.

What if you had a big pothole on your street that needed to be fixed? After weeks or months, perhaps, city workers would finally get around to fixing it. The wear and tear on your car, though, would be your responsibility.

These are just a few scenarios we, as residents of Ironton, can expect if the city has to cut employees. If we can all pitch in a dollar or two, we could save ourselves some major headaches down the road.

Adding service fees or imposing taxes, in this case, is not a bad thing. If the city's budget woes were caused by mismanagement, we would feel differently. The fact of the matter is money is not coming in the way it used to.

We, as citizens, should be willing to pitch in, as long as whatever the city proposes is reasonable.