Wright City is tightening its belt and preparing for a hit to its cash reserve as it stares down a $139,000 gap between projected revenue and expenses.The city’s 2017 budget, approved by the Wright City Board of Aldermen in December, predicts $1.71 million in revenue for the city’s general fund, which pays for services such as police, street maintenance and city administration. That’s about $40,000 less than 2016 general revenue.Projected expenses for those and other general services is $1.85 million.The difference can be absorbed by the city’s more than $300,000 general reserve, but officials are being asked to find ways to reduce the budget deficit.City employees didn’t get any raises this year, and major purchases such as police cars have been put on hold, Treasurer Karen Girondo said.“I know you guys have skimped everything out, so I appreciate it,” Mayor David Heiliger told assembled department heads at a Dec. 29 meeting.Heiliger is optimistic the next year will bring improvements. Permits for new home construction promise more tax income in the future, while the city makes precautionary spending cuts, he said.Some of those cuts were difficult. The city has eliminated the position of its full-time city clerk and combined the essential duties of the role with that of the city treasurer. That will save the cost of one salary.“It’s not something anybody likes to do,” Heiliger said. “We’re trying to save money and be responsible.”Girondo said decreased revenue in 2016 was an anomaly.“This was a really odd year,” Girondo said. Electric franchise taxes, sales taxes and motor fuel taxes are all down from where they were the year before, which she said is unusual.Statewide changes to how local municipalities handle traffic fines and court fees also have impacted the budget, Girondo said. The changes are a result of the 2014 upheaval and subsequent investigation of court practices in Ferguson.Those are difficulties the city will bear while it adjusts and waits for tax revenue to turn around. In the meantime, Girondo said, most of the city’s everyday expenses are safe, and a boost to revenue is on the horizon.“Your water, your sewer, your park, your streetlights, they’re all fine,” Girondo said. “They have their own dedicated source of money, and they’re all fine.”Improving the outlook for general revenue is more than 70 permits for new home construction along with the opening of a local EPC store, Girondo said.That growth means the city can look forward to increasing property tax revenue in the next couple of years.“We’ve got a lot of good things going for us,” Girondo said. “I think things will turn around pretty easy.”Revenue