The River City Bank branch in Carrollton will close in early May and all of its accounts will be automatically transferred to the bank’s main office in Rome.

Jim Gill, chairman of the board of River City Bank in Carrollton, said the move comes as a cost-cutting measure in a time when banks of all sizes are having to do what they can to keep their heads above water. All deposits at the bank are still insured by the FDIC.

“It’s kind of a bad day for us, but it was strictly a management decision that we need to be in one location. They’ve got to reduce operating expenses,” Gill said. “It’s been a hard decision, we all hoped it would be the other way around but it’s strictly a dollars and sense deal. Most banks are pulling their wings in and not expanding.”

The bank’s last day will be May 5, and it’s unknown at this time how many of the eight employees of the Carrollton branch will stay with the company, Gill said.

Despite the closing, the bank’s branch office at 2115 Maple St. has actually done well in its two-and-a-half-year history, finishing 2009 with an increase of $8 million in deposits over the previous year, Gill said. He said the branch now has just under $40 million in deposits, with $50 million in loans. The decision to close was made purely in an effort to reduce overhead costs, he said, the last in a series of disappointments since the branch was established in 2007.

The bank opened in a temporary trailer in the Maple Street Commons development, with plans for a permanent building to be erected on the spot later. That’s when the bottom fell out on the real estate market, Gill said, and with the economy in recession it just didn’t make sense to pay the cost of construction.

“We put the deal together, and we were going to build a building, and the bad times came along, so we decided to wait,” Gill said. “Everybody was looking forward to putting up a building but it’s hard in this economy to spend a couple million on a building.”

Gill said that while the prospect of closing is hard on the employees of the bank, it’s especially difficult to sever the relationships with so many customers in the community.

“We really do appreciate our customers,” he said. “People bank with people. People don’t bank with banks. Even though we’re growing big, we’re still a small community and that’s what’s bad, when you build that business relationship with people, and then you have to make the decision to close.”

In a letter sent out earlier this week, bank CEO Roger Smith assured customers that their money was safe and explained the circumstances behind the decision.

“Challenging times require difficult decisions,” Smith said in a release. “This decision will enable River City Bank to reduce operating expenses thus enhancing the bank’s future profitability and maintaining the Bank’s status as a well-capitalized financial institution.”

News of River City’s Carrollton closing comes only days after federal regulators seized control of First National Bank of Georgia in Carrollton, announcing it would be replaced by Community & Southern Bank, an all-new entity with a national charter that was formed by a group of Georgia bankers headed by Pat Frawley, the new president and chief executive.