GRAYSVILLE, Ala. (WIAT) — The city of Graysville is forced to cut back on their police force in the midst of financial hardship.

While some may raise concern over the police department’s limited staff, Mayor Clark Julio Davis said there is still coverage with little to no problems.

Mayor Julio told CBS 42 no shift is uncovered in the city and that they are making the best of having a limited staff.

Right now, Mayor Julio said the police department has five officers total and another officer on stand-by. They are running one officer per shift.

To his knowledge, Mayor Julio says the city has not been affected in any other way at this time.

“Everything’s affected by money though,” said Mayor Julio. “You know, we’ve got our own water and gas system. We’re doing the best we can with that. And it is what it is.”

The mayor says budget numbers came back a little lower than expected, some tax revenue didn’t come back like they thought and there was some overspending.

“It is what it is and we’re going to correct it,” said Mayor Julio. “You know, 30 days ago I told you I wanted 90 days to try to correct it the best I could, relook at it, and that’s what we’ll do. We’ve still got 60 days left.”

In the meantime, Mayor Julio said they have Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies to back them up should any problems arise.

Sheriff Mark Pettway said he’s worked closely with Graysville’s police chief to make sure they have coverage.

“We have deputies available,” said Sheriff Pettway. “We will send them to those calls to answer those calls, and we’re here to serve the county. That is our job. We want to make sure we provide safety throughout all of Jefferson County.”

“The only time we had a problem, we had one officer this past weekend his mother passed away,” said Mayor Julio. “He couldn’t make his shift. We called the county, and they handled it. Mark has been very well and done a great job taking care of us.”

Sheriff Pettway said he hopes Graysville will be able get their officers back up to full staff soon, but that regardless they will be there to help out.

Currently, if you want to reach Graysville police Mayor Julio said you have to call 205-880-0911. He said he is working directly with Jefferson County 911 to restructure how emergency calls are directed in their city.

If you have any questions or concerns about this situation, Mayor Julio said you can reach out to him directly.