This isn’t usually the time of the year when municipalities take an in-depth look at their fiscal situations. In most cases, that task is left for later in the year, when budget preparations for the next fiscal year begin taking shape.

Evans City Borough Council has become an exception to that usual scenario in recent days, however. The council has begun taking a close look at the reasons why revenues are down approximately $40,000 below 2012 budget projections and why spending is up about $18,000 above projections.

For a larger community, that $58,000 spread might not warrant concern at this time. But for a town the size of Evans City, which is operating with a budget totaling just $1.76 million, a possible end-of-year money shortage of that size cannot be ignored.

Borough residents should feel some satisfaction that officials are being proactive regarding the issue which, left unresolved, could translate into a 2013 tax increase.

However, at the same time, there must be concern over why more stringent spending controls have not been in place since Jan. 1 that might have prevented the revenue-spending problem.

From the borough’s perspective, the good thing is that there still is adequate time to make adjustments to ensure that the problem doesn’t worsen. It’s possible that adjustments made now could trim or eliminate the gap.

During 2012 budget preparations in late 2011, a number of borough residents accused the past council of failing to address budget issues of concern. In response to those criticisms, the current council promised more openness and a more aggressive vigilance regarding community finances.

The revenue-spending spread might be causing some borough residents to question whether the council has been vigilant enough. However, what’s important is that only four months into the year the council has recognized that remedial action must be taken.

“Something has to happen with the budget, folks, or we’re going to have to raise taxes or cut expenses,” Councilman Lee Dyer said last week.

Meanwhile, Tim Schoeffel, chairman of the water and sewer authority, said that the revenue shortfall might even be worse because of incorrect transfers between the two entities regarding shared employees.

If in fact they occurred, the incorrect transfers must be corrected and resolved so that they don’t reoccur. And, the council should be prepared by its next meeting to report whether the transfers in question have really widened the spread and by how much.

Nevertheless, with all that said, the council’s attention to the issue puts it on what should be a path to correcting what’s wrong.

No doubt there are other communities that should be imitating Evans City’s proactive approach to avoiding an end-of-year fiscal headache.