ARLINGTON — The City Council made its shrunken 2010 budget official during its Dec. 7 meeting.

The Council officially approved Mayor Margaret Larson’s proposed $66.7 million budget at the meeting.

Approximately $1.8 million, covering all city departments, was cut from the budget, city officials said.

The budget accounts for 15 full-time city positions that have either been eliminated or kept unstaffed.

Eleven of those positions came in the form of early retirements or voluntary layoffs, which saved the city approximately $1.1 million in salary and benefits, said city of Arlington spokeswoman Kristin Banfield.

City staff have been working to reduce the 2010 budget for the past few months, and a preliminary budget was presented to the Council in October, according to a city memo.

On Nov. 16, the Council held a public hearing on the mayor’s proposed budget.

“This has been the most difficult budget to prepare for the city for as long as I can remember,” Larson wrote in a letter to the Council in November. “Simply put, this 2010 budget is a bare bones budget that funds essential services only.”

State law requires the 2010 budget be approved by Dec. 31.