There's no dark economic cloud hanging over Sioux Falls. The city got its final numbers in from 2008 and made budget for the third year in a row. But the good news doesn't end there. 

It takes a lot of money to run a city the size of Sioux Falls, but apparently not as much as city officials first thought.

Last year, they budgeted $110 million for operating expenses, but spent only $105 million, sending $5 million back into the reserve fund. 

"We had some good things happen.  Investment numbers came in stronger than we expected.  Franchise tax came in stronger than we expected and we look at fuel costs subsided a little bit," Mayor Dave Munson said. 

Plus, the city took in $38 million in property taxes, about what they budgeted.

Sales taxes brought in $45 million; that was more than 2007.

Goods and services, like water bills, brought in $5 million, which was more than they budgeted for and almost $5 million in licenses and permits that too came in higher than they expected.

Plus, snow removal came in a million dollars under budget.  But according to the mayor, the real credit according goes to staff and department heads for holding the line on spending. 

"So they responded very favorably, worked hard at it, so we were able to grow in our reserves our reserves is up to $42 millon dollars, which is a good number," Munson said. 

Looking down the road, Mayor Munson doesn't foresee any major budget cuts coming or hiring freezes for 2009. 

"We're positioned very well.  If you look at the last three years, we've been able to take and put more into the reserves, but we'll be monitoring the economy to see if there's any adjustments," Munson said.