Owen Sound council continues trying to chip away at the 2010 budget.
Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners says they held a marathon eight hour pre-budget session at the public library on Friday.
Lovell Stanners says only a small amount of savings were realized that day, but they did come up with a few areas for staff to take another look at.
Cuts made Friday include a 500-dollar reduction to 25-hundred dollars a year in councillor expenses.
Lovell Stanners says staff have been instructed to check into gas prices because it appears the price point in the budget is higher than the actual price at the pumps.
She says another area is sidewalk plowing, suggesting that both sides of the street don’t need to be plowed in areas that aren’t heavily populated.
Staff already found 300-thousand dollars in cost saving measures before Friday’s session – but the city is losing 400-thousand dollars in provincial funding.
Lovell Stanners says at the point, the projected tax hike is still sitting at 6 per cent, which would translate into 3 per cent if the county approves a 0 per cent increase.
But the mayor says she is not happy with that figure and wants to see the rate lower – and she remains confident staff can make it happen.
Council will hold budget meetings on February 4th and 5th, to be followed shortly by a public meeting.