| The city of Weston is asking department heads to slash budgets after discovering it has $400,000 in unpaid bills.
The central West Virginia city is ahead of predictions that say cities, counties and state governments will likely face some major financial hurdles as the recession snowballs in 2009.
Mayor Julia Spelsberg told media that until two weeks ago, the city thought it had a surplus.
It was then the city was advised they owed $130,000 to the Police and Firemen's Pension Fund, $109,000 to the state Tax Department, and the Internal Revenue Service now due $166,000.
Spelsberg says record discrepancies with the IRS date back to 2002.
She says it may take four years to raise all the money, so everything that could cut costs is on the table. | 
