While other places are battling budget shortfalls, the City of Alexandria will end the fiscal year with almost $10 million in surplus. The acting city manager wants to use that money to invest in emergency response.

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Acting City Manager Bruce Johnson told the city council reported that Alexandria closed out FY 2011 on June 30 with an operating surplus of $9.8 million, just under 2 percent of the total operating budget.

The unexpected surplus comes from $5.57 million in savings and $4.26 million in revenues that were higher than anticipated, the city said.

Johnson recommended the city council set aside $6.7 million to protect against economic uncertainty and future revenue shortfalls. He said the remaining one-third could be used to pay for emergency response to the recent earthquake, hurricane, and flooding; save for future emergencies; and improve equipment and training for first responders.