If money won’t buy you happiness, as the old adage goes, it almost certainly won’t stop crime or help city planning, either.

People, not currency, are the key solutions to both situations.

And it’s with caution and a realistic expectation that the Natchez Board of Aldermen should proceed with plans to just add two unbudgeted police officers.

The city clerk, who serves as essentially the treasurer of the city, cried foul. He said the city simply doesn’t have the money. But the alderman charged ahead anyway.

Where’s the money coming from then? Are we cutting things to offset the new expenses or are we banking on the Lane Company or another development to come through soon?

We’ve long said that the city’s men and women in uniform are underpaid.

Last year, aldermen increased the pay. This week, they decided to randomly add another two officers.

And at least one alderman implied that the two officers better make a difference in crime. That’s the expectation.

But it’s unrealistic. Crime doesn’t reduce in direct proportion with the number of officers on the street.

If it were that easy, we could just throw a bunch of money at the police department and crime would go away.

The solution is getting the right leadership in place, a team of people who can bring people together and lead people. And that starts with fiscal responsibility at City Hall.