Collingwood Council is being cautioned to watch its spending this year or face bigger problems next year.
Council held a special budget meeting on capital projects on Saturday morning.
CAO Kim Wingrove warned council that there will be a minimum five percent tax increase in 2011 just to make increased debenture (loan) payments.
More spending in 2011 on projects that aren’t debentured would raise the tax hike even more.
It’s recommended council defer some capital projects this year to offset the difficulties coming in 2011.
Wingrove suggested five million dollars in cuts including postponing the wellness centre at Heritage Park as well as construction of the new public works garage, and property acquisitions for the High Street roundabout.
Construction has already started to prepare the centre site at Heritage which Leisure Services Director Peter Dunbar says would have to be fenced off and left as basically a big hole until the project can be completed.
Another hot topic is whether to put a roof over the outdoor ice rink at Central Park.
Council was to decide whether to take 100 thousand dollars from reserves for an engineering study to see if the roof is a good idea.
But a couple of councillors wanted more information on who uses the rink and whether user fees can be raised to cover the costs.
The new information will be presented to council on Monday.