According to a news release, the Atlanta City Council Monday approved the fiscal 2013 general fund budget, which calls for $526.6 million in anticipated revenues, tighter spending and more police officers for the coming year.

The additional officers will bring the force to 2,000 and represent the largest police force in the city’s history.

The fiscal 2013 budget ordinance was approved on substitute as amended by a vote of 12-2. Council members Felicia A. Moore (District 9) and Howard Shook (District 7), who each represent parts of Buckhead, dissented, and District 2 Councilman Kwanza Hall was absent.

"I would like to commend my colleagues for their hard work in vetting the city’s upcoming budget,” said Moore, chair of the council’s finance/executive committee. “Each year we are charged with the tremendous responsibility of promoting the most effective and appropriate allocation of our city’s resource. Despite the slow economic recovery we are experiencing, which has drastically impacted our tax digest, we were able to achieve this in an extremely efficient manner.”

Fiscal 2013 general fund revenues for city coffers are projected to be at a 10-year low, nearly $120 million below fiscal 2008 figures. However, the fiscal 2013 budget does not call for a property tax increase for the coming fiscal year that starts July 1

“The fact that we will be able to provide the level of services that our residents expect with less revenues than in previous years demonstrates our commitment to looking for new and efficient ways of operating,” said City Council President Ceasar C. Mitchell. “I, too, commend this city council for approving a spending plan that is fiscally prudent and functionally sustainable.”