Ironton residents should be receiving mail from the city Monday, but it isn’t a bill or junk mail.

The folded card is a

confidential income survey that could allow the city to receive thousands of dollars in additional grant monies, Mayor Bob Cleary said.

It is urgent that residents fill them out and return them by Aug. 2, he said.

No names are on the cards, only addresses,

and residents just need to answer how many people are in the household and the household income. They are self-addressed and postage paid so they can just be dropped in the mail or the water bill payment box at the City Center, Cleary said.

Currently, when the city applies for grants, the work can only be done in targeted areas. They would like to be able to have the entire city considered one area.

Many proposed projects that need funding are outside of the targeted areas, including a new fire station, new water tower, repairs to the

reservoir and sewer plant improvements, Cleary said.

Not only would this give the city more flexibility to use more than $500,000 already available, but it could also allow Ironton to be eligible for significantly more funds, Cleary said.

Part of the problem is that the census data used to determine federal grant funding has Ironton grouped in a metropolitan area with Huntington and Ashland. This calculates the median income and has reduced the amount of money available and how it can be used, Cleary said.

The results of the survey will apply for 10 years and city officials hope the survey will give a more accurate representation of the income level of the community, he said. Michael Caldwell/The Ironton Tribune