The Cheyenne City Council Tuesday evening approved a $49.6 Million dollar budget for fiscal year 2013, which begins on July 1, 2012. Prior to approving the proposed budget, the council approved an amendment by Councilwoman Amber Ash to transfer a little over $279, 000 in money the city saved when health insurance rates did not increase as expected into a special economic development fund.

Following approval of Ash’s amendment, the council voted 9-0, with Councilman Sean Allen absent, to approve the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Following that vote, Mayor Rick Kaysen called the 2013 budget ‘‘lean and mean” and thanked the council as well as city staff for their hard work during the budget. The new budget is about $900, 000 lower than the current city budget and includes no salary increases for city employees. However, it also includes no layoffs of city employees, which some council members had at one point in the process mentioned as a possibility.

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