Local government workers in the central Missouri town of Windsor (population: 3,000) have been forced to bring their own toilet paper to work, due to budget constraints.

City administrator Sandra Underwood was accused of instructing male public works employees to bring their own TP, claiming the workers were using far more paper than female employees. Underwood denied the charge.

The town’s mayor and aldermen only learned of the decision after a local citizen raised the subject at a council meeting, and suggested starting a fundraiser so the male workers wouldn’t have to pay for their own toilet paper.

“Ultimately this was an embarrassing mistake,” Mayor Justin Brown told KCTV. “We can’t see any logical reason why would they be told that they can't have toilet paper at their workplace, regardless of budgetary concerns.”

Windsor is not the first U.S. city to confront a toilet paper shortage in the month of March as a result of budget cutbacks. Last year it was employees of the Trenton, New Jersey, police department and City Hall who had to bring their own from home after city council members refused to approve a $42,573 order for toilet paper, toilet seat covers and paper towels. That shortage was solved by an emergency contract and a donation from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) of a six-month supply of TP that read “Wipe cruelty from your diet. Go vegan.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Real Mess: Public Works Employees Forced To Bring Toilet Paper To Work (by DeAnn Smith and Betsy Webster, KCTV-Kansas City)

Trenton City Government Averts Toilet Paper Crisis after Emergency Purchase (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)