Officials in the Ironton income tax department hope residents take a look at their mail before discarding it as junk.

Some residents recently received an eight question survey from the city's income tax department. Finance Director Cindy Anderson has a clear message: It is not a reason to panic and it does not mean individuals owe taxes either.

Essentially, the annual survey is designed to update the city's employment records for residents whom the city does not already have information available for an individual's filing status. Many people retire, switch jobs or just move to the city without ever notifying the income tax department.

"The questionnaire is to be able to account for all residents in Ironton to see if they are paying income tax either here or in another municipality that we reciprocate with," Anderson said. "The goal is to avoid delinquencies."

Since the city does not have mandatory filing and gets zero information from the Internal Revenue Service, the city primarily relies on people to provide information by using the survey.

Questions include date of establishing residency, name of current employer, date of hire, is city tax being withheld, all employers in the past 5 years and prior addresses.

The income tax department will send out a second notice but residents should return the questionnaire as soon as possible, regardless of their employment status, or the city will begin cross-referencing the information to track the individual down, Anderson said.

"If someone does not return the questionnaire, we automatically open their account and assume they have 5 years delinquencies until they prove otherwise," she said.