Amid bleak financial projections of declining revenue for the coming year, Lexington's Urban County Council on Thursday approved a $274 million general-fund budget for 2011 that is $6 million less than last year's budget and relies on selling city property and dipping into the rainy-day fund to make ends meet.

The vote was 12-2, with council member Diane Lawless absent.

At-large member Linda Gorton and 7th District representative K.C. Crosbie cast the two dissenting votes. Both expressed concern about dipping into the city's cash reserves and selling property.

"This is the first budget I've voted 'no' on in 12 years," Gorton said. She said she was uncomfortable taking $5.8 million from the city's rainy-day fund of $14 million, plus selling $4 million in real estate the city owns.

Of the rainy-day fund, Crosbie said she worried about taking "non-recurring money for recurring expenses."

"When you're spending more than you're bringing in, that's not good for business, for households and certainly not good for business," Crosbie said.

While the council hammered out changes to the budget this year, it approved Gorton's motion that the rainy-day fund cannot be tapped until January, and then the council must vote to approve it.

The real estate that would be sold has not been publicly identified by Mayor Jim Newberry's administration. Gorton said this concerned her, plus, "Before we get the money, the property has to be sold."

"So that is revenue we may or may not get," she said.

In April, the mayor presented a back-to-basics budget that called for laying off 17 permanent employees, closing Constitution and Berry Hill swimming pools and Avon Golf Course, and cutting the city's salt budget. It also included 11 percent cuts to the mayor's office and 9 percent to the council office.

The council spent the next two months scrutinizing, debating and modifying the budget.

The budget approved at Thursday night's council meeting is the city's spending plan for fiscal year 201l, which starts July 1. It is 2.8 percent less than the $280 million budget of 2010.

Some of the changes the council made to the mayor's budget included:

■ Restoring eight of 16 jobs cut by layoffs by including money to fund those positions through the end of the year.

■ Keeping Berry Hill and Constitution pools open but ending the season earlier for more pools.

■ Keeping Avon Golf Course open until after Labor Day.

■ Cutting the mayor's office budget 9.7 percent instead of 10.8 percent, and reducing the council budget 3.4 percent instead of 9 percent as Newberry had proposed.

■ Cutting the streets and roads salt budget by $200,000.

■ Slashing a $1.2 million emergency repair and maintenance fund for government facilities to $750,000.

But the council agreed with the mayor's proposal of $2 million for the Purchase of Development Rights program.