Gilbert approved its finalized budget of $447,826,113 for the 2012-13 fiscal year at the special Town Council meeting Thursday.

The town has established a zero-based budget this year, taking into account the entire town’s spending, rather than an automatic “baseline” approval of previous years’ spending. Sales tax is the largest contributor to the general fund, as revenue from sales taxes has increased since the recession a few years ago. Additional revenue that is higher than what it is expected to be maintained has been put aside for one-time expenses so that the town will not become dependent on that money.

“It’s great that we used additional revenue for one-time expenses, to not get into the euphoria of ‘we got money,’” said Councilman John Sentz.