Spending is up, and so is revenue, as the city adjusted its budget mid-year this week. The total change boosted the budget total to $32.7 million-up nearly $2 million from the total approved last June.

City Manager Eric Budds told the council there was “very little that isn't offset by outside sources” in the jump. After a presentation of specifics, council passed the adjustments without further discussion.

For the general fund, a mix of grant funds obtained by different departments like fire and police, and higher than expected collections in areas like the municipal court pushed the revenue picture into a rosier outlook, Budds said. A factor that drew down on the increased revenue was higher than budgeted fuel costs for vehicles like police and fire. In the utility fund, three major water line breaks drained funds in the first half of the fiscal year.

One overrun that Budds dubbed a “good thing” was higher than anticipated expenditures on economic development incentives due to the stepping up of commercial activity.

In a reversal of trend for many public and personal budgets, insurance premiums (both workers' compensation and general) have reduced.

The increase in revenue also means that the city will be taking less from its fund balance, or savings, to balance this year's budget than originally planned. The figure has been cut by just more than half, with the adjusted budget calling for $99,128 out of the fund balance. The fund balance stands at around $4.2 million currently.

The adjustments also perform some financial housekeeping in a few ways. The cultural arts and tourism fund was split into two line items to better track expenditures as the tourism portion now is mainly composed of the administration of the Firehouse Convention Center along with city marketing promotions. Other places where funds were shifted include a debt service allotment in the utilities budget moving into a savings account, and adjustments to totals for streetscaping where planned projects are now being executed on longer than expected timelines.

In other business, council: