Ironton’s Finance Committee began working through a proposed budget for 2006, one that could mean cutting a handful of city employees to help fill a projected $300,000 deficit in the city’s budget.

Before Councilman Richard Price explained his changes, he pointed out that his budget should not be the end of the budget discussions, but rather a jumping off point.

“This budget is by no means set in concrete,” Price said. “This is just a starting point. I think it should be amended until we, as a council, can come together on these issues.”

Perhaps the gravest discussions revolved around the loss of some city positions. Price’s budget removes funding for the positions of public works director and the code enforcement officer. It would also eliminate the city’s parking department — meaning a net savings of around $16,000.

“I know these cuts will cause some hardships, but it’s what we’re going to have to do to get back on our feet,” Price said.

This grim news might be alleviated somewhat by the addition of two new administrative positions created by changes in the city’s combined sewer overflow plan.

In Price’s budget, the mayor’s secretary’s payment would be reduced by 25 percent, having her work 30-hour weeks. But since the mayor received a mandated 4.7 percent salary increase in 2005, this produced a negligible change between 2005 and 2006.

Price is suggesting cutting overtime in the police department. The councilman said he also looked at overtime cuts elsewhere to no avail.

“I looked at cutting overtime from the fire department, but it was just impossible to do with the way they figure things,” Price said.

The budget also suggests a few new sources of revenue such as an additional $104,000 in the city revenue that would be redirected from the city’s sanitation budget to compensate hours from engineering department employees working on implementation of the stormwater utility fee.

An additional $70,000 is also in the budget that Price said he believes could be obtained from code enforcement.

Price was also counting on the implementation of a $5 per month municipal fee that he had proposed to city council.

Councilman Leo Johnson also put forth his own proposal, which also featured two positions cut from engineering and the removal of the parking department.

Johnson’s plan would also place a decreasing safety fee on Ironton residents that would require $11 for the first year, then $10 and $9 in the following two years. This plan would include a 2-percent wage increase for city employees over three years and increase health care costs for city employees by 5 percent.

“I think we have to address the raises eventually,” Johnson said. “You can’t ask people to work without raises for three years. We can’t just slip it under the rug.”

An addition of two new police officers would also be made in 2007 in the Johnson plan, but further cuts would also come that year with the elimination of the city health department.

The councilman also suggested privatizing sanitation and moving five of the sanitation workers to the city’s street and stormwater departments.

The committee will soon have a chance to find a common ground, with another meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday.