Toronto's budget committee is recommending a Budget 2010 2.0 - with a lower-than-anticipated property tax increase, less money for city councillors' office budgets, some lower user fees and an end to the spectre of Sunday library closures.
The 11th-hour changes to the $9.2-billion operating budget came courtesy of a "super surplus" from 2009, that gave councillors another $100 million to play with after having already examined a more austere budget.
"What's really important is that all of these councillors understand we don't have a party with this surplus," budget chief Shelley Carroll said. "We have to carry on with the reduction strategy. The surplus won't be that big this year - it could disappear."
With that in mind, the committee recommended a conservative approach to the new surplus, putting three-quarters of it in a tax stabilization reserve fund to help deal with the 2011 budget.
Just over $25 million went to some changes to the budget.
The lion's share - just over $23 million -
went to the reduction of a planned four per cent property tax hike for
homeowners and 1.33 per cent for businesses, to 2.9 per cent and just
under one per cent respectively.
The remaining $1.8 million covered a variety of changes, including:
-The reduction of a planned sign-up fee for recreation program registration from $50 to $25;
-The elimination of a plan to close 27 community library branches for five Sundays each;
-The increase of community partnership grants to arts organizations and other groups, including student nutrition programs, to two per cent as opposed to flatlining them.
The committee also voted to continue to fund daycare rent subsidies with the Toronto District School Board, drawing down much of the remainder of the city's childcare reserves to do so. While that money didn't come directly from the surplus, Carroll acknowledged the fact that the city had the $75 million reserve fund for next year made it possible to draw down the childcare reserves.
The committee also approved some additional cuts - notably, a five per cent cut to councillors' discretionary office budgets, bringing them down from $53,100 to $50,445 - saving the city $116,820.
That has traditionally been a sore point for city councillors, who have guarded their office budgets jealously. But Carroll, who moved the motion, said she had encountered very little resistance this time.
"I gave councillors lots and lots of opportunities to come to my office and harangue me and hadn't heard dickie bird," she said. "So there you are. I moved it today and budget committee has passed it unanimously."
The committee rounded off its cuts with small reductions to the city's accountability offices - notably, the auditor general's office.
The budget will be next going to the city's executive committee in early April, then on to council April 16.