Still some minor tweaking by the treasurer but Saugeen Shores council has completed preliminary budget talks.
Vice Deputy Mayor Doug Gowanlock says they met again on Wednesday and whittled away at an original 9 per cent tax hike.
Gowanlock says they’ve managed to bring it down to 2.82 per cent.
That translates to about fifty dollars more on the tax bill for the average homeowner.
He says they will maintain service levels, and are not losing employees, but are not adding where they may have liked.
Gowanlock says they also found money not being spent in previous allocations to bring down the tax hike.
Council will look at the final document March 8th.
Gowanlock says they could still review it for another two weeks, but will most likely pass it that day.