VIDALIA — Vidalia aldermen approved amendments to the town’s 2017-2018 budget Friday in a special-called meeting to ensure the town is in compliance with state law.

The fiscal year to date spending showed a variance of more than 5 percent from the budget in the general and special funds. Such a variance required an adjustment of $64,525 in revenue and $574,723 in expenditures to get in compliance with state law.

The meeting only had three items on the agenda: a public hearing on the ordinance to amend the budget, board consideration to adopt the ordinance to amend the budget and introduce the budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Though Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft allowed public comments, Craft said his primary goal for the meeting was simply to adopt an ordinance to amend the budget.

“This amendment is simply getting the town in compliance with state law,” Craft said. “That’s it.”

Craft said the budget is reviewed monthly — but before the actual expenses, revenue and receivable income are tallied up, the exact financial numbers cannot be determined, he said.

“We do report (the budget) on a monthly basis. … You’re given a side by side comparison on what was budgeted, what was spent and what you think is going to wind up being accurate.”

The ordinance adopted in Friday’s meeting suggests the variances in the general fund resulted from an inaccurate statement of salaries for police and fire departments due to overtime and retention payments and a higher than budgeted cost for police vehicles. Other variances included capital lease proceeds and insurance proceeds that were not listed in the original budget, while the special fund showed both higher and lower expenditures and revenues that needed adjustment.

Meanwhile, the 2018-2019 budget reflects substantial receivable revenue from Project Blue — the code name for the purchase of a former Fruit of the Loom plant by a yet-to-be-named manufacturer that town officials have kept confidential.

The unnamed company is purchasing the plant for $12 million, $4 million of which should be received in a matter of weeks — once the paperwork is finalized on June 28, Craft said.

“We’re closing that deal Thursday,” he said.