The members of the Selma City Council, Mayor George Evans and each of the city’s department heads went through a process that was painful, tedious, uncomfortable, but extremely necessary.

The process they endured Monday evening in finding more than $900,000 in budgetary cuts in the upcoming city budget was a lesson in financial management that we personally could learn from and a lesson our leaders in Washington would do well to learn.

The budget restrictions that are levied against the city, the county and the state, require each legislative body, whether it be the city council or the Alabama Legislature, to approve a balanced budget.

With that requirement in place, tough decisions must be made. Some wants are left off the list and, when times are somewhat rough, spending must be further cut.

Such is the case for Selma in the upcoming year.

With revenues falling behind what most expected, city leaders had to ask their employees to do without this coming year. The budgetary requests department heads put in for the next budget combined for nearly $1 million more than the city’s revenues could afford.

Again, tough decisions had to be made.

With these cuts proposed, the work now turns to ways to generate more revenue for the city, so that services could be enhanced or expanded. With increased revenues, such things as the city’s police department could finally be fully staffed and the city’s parks and recreation department wouldn’t have to look at reducing the number of lifeguards or youth baseball umpires.

Some of the requests trimmed during the lengthy budget hearing were what some would call luxuries, but others were painful necessities that will force department heads to get very creative.

Sales tax revenue is the driving factor in the city’s budget and when sales tax figures decline, so to do the programs and services the city can provide.

It is important our economic leaders continue to find ways to recruit businesses to the vacant buildings downtown and the vast, open space at the Selma Mall.

But, it is also tremendously important that we, as residents of Selma and Dallas County, do our part, by supporting our local businesses; finding reasons to shop home, rather than looking for an excuse to travel to Prattville, Montgomery or elsewhere.

Monday’s budget hearing was tough, but it was important. With this painful part of the process now behind us, we must now turn to the hard work of reigniting our local economy.