One duty a city employee in the public works department may have to do is taking a used tractor out to mow city property.
However, a recent report from Pennsylvania's Sunbury Daily Item noted that a consulting firm recently advised the city to get skilled workers off the used tractors and put them to work on more complicated, infrastructure-related projects. Keystone Municipal Services suggested that the council consider hiring a subcontractor to do the grass work.
Sunbury Mayor David Persing said that he would like to hire more people to do the work, but that it is not possible.
"Normally, we'd have the less salaried people mowing grass, but it has to be done," Persing said, according to a report from the paper. "Sometimes, the top guy has to do menial work."
Across the country, many towns have had to cut back on some of the services as harder economic times have reduced the amount of tax dollars they receive. Some have even considered closing parks so that funds aren't used in maintaining them.