The East Lansing City Council held a special meeting regarding the new budget for the upcoming fiscal year this morning at the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road.

The council discussed a preliminary budget with its general fund of about $32 million for the 2014 fiscal year — a decrease of more than $600,000 from the 2013 fiscal year — and plans for the five-year financial forecast.

There were numerous mentions of the city’s past budget troubles and constraints throughout the meeting, but officials were quick to point out the city is starting to turn the tide.

“The things we’ve been doing have been working,” City Manager George Lahanas said. “But there are a lot of challenges still remaining.”

Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett said the city has taken a balanced approach to dealing with the city’s budget constraints, including operating the city more efficiently, cutting costs and new revenue from property taxes.

During the past 10 years, full time city employees have decreased from 482 to 323, with the majority coming from attrition, when an employee retires or leaves work and their position is not filled.

While the city is predicting a small decline in revenue for the 2014 fiscal year, small increases are predicted in the coming years beginning in the 2016 fiscal year.

“I can’t help but say it’s a little better news than what we’ve been having in the past, and that’s pretty incredible,” Mayor Diane Goddeeris said.

The city is expecting to bring in more than $31 million for 2014, a 0.3 percent decrease from 2013, and just under $31 million for 2015. From 2016 to 2018, the city is projecting to have its revenue increase about 1.2 to 1.3 percent each year.

“All these projections indicate there are still challenges and uncertainties ahead,” Triplett said. “I think this is also a clear affirmation that the balanced approach that we’ve taken to these budget pressures has worked as intended.”

With the possibility of more money coming into the city, Lahanas said the increased revenue could have various benefits for both students and residents in the future.

“Increasing tax revenue means better streets, better parks, and more funding for the library,” he said.

Triplett said the extra revenue could go toward city services such as snow removal, public safety and water sanitation, to name a few.

“That would allow the city to provide a higher quality of service and allow us to reinvest in the infrastructure we’ve had to set aside in recent years,” he said.