To fee or not to fee, that is the question. Shall the citizens of Ironton be forced to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune or take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them?

The words, co-opted from the soliloquy of Shakespeare's &#8220Hamlet,” seem fitting for the modern-day tragedy known as the Ironton budget situation.

For a couple of years - at least - some city leaders have foretold of the proverbial &#8220D-Day” when the city would be completely broke again.

The issue is that the city simply spends more than it takes in through taxes and fees. Although it took a few years, the continually eroding tax base has finally dwindled too far.

For months and months, the city's leadership - and we use that term in its loosest sense - has debated ways to fix the doomsday scenario.

Rather than resolve the issue, the group ultimately decided to simply let the voters choose whether or not residents should pay a $10 fee to help keep the city afloat.

The city council members routinely hide behind the strict construction theory of the City Charter.

In its simplest form, the city council is only supposed to legislate and appropriate. Therefore, council members largely refuse to offer an opinion or work closely with the mayor to try and get to the bottom of the impending fiscal crisis.

Will voters care if the council followed the charter to a &#8220T” if in the end the city goes broke?

Sadly, the city council doesn't have a &#8220Plan B” for what happens if the voters reject the proposed $10 fee.

Conversely, the mayor either has no plan or appears to not want to share that plan, both are unacceptable. The city's residents who pay taxes day in and day out deserve to know the options confronting the city. They need to know just how scary &#8220Plan B” might be.

Everyone involved in key positions of city government seems content to just sit where they are and do nothing. The only logic in that plan that we can discern is that by doing nothing, no one can blame you for doing something that's a mistake.

On Tuesday, the city council met in special session with the sole purpose of discussing what would happen if the municipal fee fails to pass. Three of the seven councilmen did not attend the meeting. Not only do those folks apparently not have a &#8220Plan B” but also appear not to be interested in making one.

We urge the voters to have the vision that few in city government seem to have. Pass the fee and let's at least stem the bleeding for now.

If we don't do something quickly, we'll all be quote another of Hamlet's familiar phrases: Alas, poor Yorick. I knew Ironton, Horatio.