At the close of business Wednesday, the Chattooga County government only had $36,937 in its checking account. That won't cover the $190,000 bi-monthly payroll and benefits.

Effective yesterday, Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters issued several cost savings measures. Garbage services will be reduced, overtime will be eliminated, vacant positions will go unfilled, non-essential training will be canceled, all supplies must be approved through the commissioner's office, one furlough day a month implemented and public works will operate on a four day schedule.

“We simply don’t have the funds this year to be over budget,” Commissioner Winters said. "The county citizens are not in favor of raising property taxes. . . We don’t have the extra dollars for any of our departments to be over budget.”

The county's chief source of revenue, property taxes, continues to drop. Meanwhile, spending has trended upwards. Commissioner Winters says cuts are mandatory.

"Spending can’t continue to trend upward and revenues continue to fall,” Winters said.

Audits show the county spending tracking upwards for the past several years. But revenue collections have slid since 2010. The failing housing market has meant the average price of a home does not fetch what it did several years ago.

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