The Vandalia City Council officially approved their Fiscal Year 2019 budget on Monday evening. The total budget is for $9,858,567 and has overall deficit spending of $6,008, which Mayor Rick Gottman says they will take from their reserves to cover the small shortfall. There are some accounts that show a deficit, such as the MFT Fund (-$31,081), Capital Improvement Fund (-$119,615) and Payroll Fund (-$34,650). But, there are several accounts that show a sizable surplus to make up for all but $6,000 of the shortfall. Mayor Gottman says when they first laid out the budget, it showed deficit spending of better than $737,000. But, he says that City Administrator Latisha Paslay worked with each department head on their budget to make cuts and to get the spending plan in line with the revenues coming in. Paslay went thru some of the bigger cuts to the budget and explained that revenues have been fairly steady, so she was conservative with her predictions. Alderman Andy Lester asked about the large deficit in the Capital Improvement Fund. Paslay stated that fund is from the .5% sales tax the city has for infrastructure improvements. And, that account is also where improvements such as the Thrill Hill Bridge and Randolph Street Bridge come out of.