Adams County officials have trimmed their 2004-2005 budget enough to stave off a tax increase &045;&045; and it hasn’t been easy.

County supervisors and the county administrator have held weeks of meetings to trim the budget from $17,023,338 to $16,737,163.

That’s hitting home for some 30 departments that saw their expenditures cut for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. Sheriff Ronny Brown won’t get to purchase a new van and make some vehicle repairs, and his office’s clothing budget was cut.

There will be few road projects done in the upcoming fiscal year because the funds simply won’t be there &045;&045; and that department is sure to hear from the public as a result.

Port employees will work fewer hours, and the airport will have to find new sources of matching funds for federal grants.

In short, everyone’s feeling the crunch.

For city departments, making ends meet for 2004-2005 was more a case of keeping their expenditures at the current year’s levels than making any drastic cuts.

Even so, adding anything from personnel to equipment will have to wait, for the most part, until 2005-2006, if then.

But, as Mayor Phillip West pointed out early last week, that will mean no tax increase for the Natchezians who foot the bill.

It’s like our own personal finances &045;&045; if we don’t

have the money coming in due to hard economic times, we must simply find ways to hold down spending or, if it comes to that, make drastic lifetstyle changes.

We applaud the city and county for biting the bullet &045;&045; and pray they’ll continue to be conservative with our money even after better economic times return.