When Bill Marx first heard about the loss of revenue sharing for state municipalities under Gov. Snyder’s proposed budget, he was worried — to say the least.

“It was flat out scary,” said the first-year city manager. “I was panicking.”

He thought the city was going to lose about $250,000 when he found out the governor’s budget plan called for the elimination of statutory revenue-sharing for municipalities.

But Marx is now breathing a little easier. The budget that the Legislature passed recently slashes revenue sharing by a third, meaning the city is expecting to see an $80,000 cut in revenue sharing.

The city will receive $160,000 in revenue sharing this year down from $240,000.

This means the city won’t have to lay off any workers, Marx said. Two city employees will be lost by attrition, which will help fill the budget shortfall.

Union employees also have accepted concessions and won’t see wage increases the next two years.

“I’m pretty comfortable with our position after realizing the cuts,” Marx said. “We will still be able to move forward. We won’t have to remain in the status quo. We will still be able to move forward on some projects.”

Meanwhile, the City of Niles, facing a $400,000 shortfall, is discussing eliminating two police officers and one firefighter in its 2012 budget.

Both Marx and Niles City Administrator Terry Eull believe Michigan could do away with statutory revenue sharing all together in the coming years.