STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- The city of Steubenville is facing some major budget issues and is asking the unions for police, firefighters and other city workers to make changes to their contracts to keep the city afloat.

NEWS9 got a copy of a letter that went out to union heads Tuesday, from the city manager.

The letter states the general fund for current fiscal year is $844,000 in the hole.

If no changes are made by 2010, city officials believe they will be dealing with a $1.5 million deficit. If the economy doesn't turn around, they expect further funding cuts by the next fiscal year.

City Manager Bruce Williams is asking the unions to go back to the bargaining table to talk about contract modifications.

There's talk of cutting as many as nine police officers and about a dozen other city positions.

NEWS9 tried to speak with Williams at Tuesday’s council meeting, but his only comment was that he was heading to the beach and didn’t plan to talk about the situation until he returns from vacation and has spoken with union heads.

City Law Director Gary Repella said he can't determine how many positions will need to be cut, but from looking at the numbers and comparing Steubenville's staff size to other comparable Ohio cities, he feels Steubenville is way over-staffed.

Police Chief Bill McCafferty said that if it comes down to layoffs at his department, he could potentially get some of the positions back through stimulus funds. However, he won't find out how much money, if any, he'll get for the department until September.