More than 60 people filled Rossville Civic Center Tuesday night to hear Mayor Johnny Baker explain the city’s struggling budget.

The city is halfway through its fiscal year, and its expenditures are right on target at 49.68 percent, Baker said. Rossville has collected 71.75 percent of revenues generated from taxes, leaving $318,000 in delinquent taxes and shortages.

Baker presented the numbers to the crowd and opened the floor for suggestions to ease the city’s financial woes.

Among the suggestions were to have the police department write more tickets, cede the city fire department to the county, allow beer and wine sales, and even dissolve the city charter.

When it estimated revenues for this year, the City Council predicted it would take in $245,000 through the Municipal Court system, or tickets. So far it has only seen $84,278 of that money, leaving $160,722 to be gathered in the second half of the year.

“We don’t want to be known as a fee-grabbing town,” Baker said.

Beer and wine sales have been a hot topic as a new source of revenue for the city, but it was recently voted down.

While some residents said Rossville should give up its charter, the mayor and council are vehemently against it.

“If you give up the city charter, you’re going to have to live with whatever police protection, whatever fire protection, whatever street department, whatever services that you can get through the county,” councilman Rick Buff said. “Come election time, you need to keep that in the back of your head. Rick Buff is not going to do away with the city charter in Rossville, now and forever.”

Buff was the only member of the four-member City Council at Tuesday’s meeting.

The city’s budget cuts may still force closing of the Rossville branch of the Cherokee Regional Library.

The library’s fate has been hanging in the balance since Rossville City Council set the city budget last fall.

The council was faced with some tough decisions as it balanced this year’s budget. It completely cut out the city’s recreation department. It slashed the city library budget in half. The cut from $60,000 to $30,000 jeopardized the entire Cherokee Regional Library System.

The library wants a commitment of $58,725 for next year’s budget by July, Baker said. If the funding isn’t guaranteed, the library will be forced to begin phasing out its inventory and empty the library by the end of the year