On Tuesday, January 25th, Council held a special budget meeting, where it directed Administration to make further changes to the proposed 2011 operating budget.
The meeting came after changes were proposed at the January 18th Council meeting, and Administration worked to resolve many of the issues.
The potential budget adjustments which were presented to Council last week totalled $354,351, representing the directions proposed by Councillors at the previous budgetary meetings, which have been ongoing since December.
The proposed cuts included: $30,000 from the municipal advertising budget, $34,200 from the cost of installing a new rug in the municipal office, $7,000 for the replacement of Council chairs and tables, $30,000 from Thunder in the Valley policing costs, $2,000 from the Bellevue and Coleman Community Associations, $19,300 from casual wages for the four fire departments, $8,505 from benefits on casual wages for the fire departments, $11,700 from public works casual wages, $24,400 from streets and roads casual labour, $7,000 for Coleman metering, $20,900 from sanitary sewer casual labour, $41,000 from sanitary landfill tipping fees, $4,800 from the Chamber of Commerce, $15,000 from retiling of the Pass Pool floor, $2,000 from the Crowsnest Museum Grant, $7,500 from the Allied Arts Grant, $5,646 from the Library Grant, $30,000 for the records archiving system, $10,000 from the parade float, $10,000 for the construction of a storage shed for the Hillcrest Fire Department, $30,000 for the purchase of a generator for the municipal office, and $15,000 from the sno-gate budget.
The budget also included $50,000 being added for the demolition of the Maplevue Hall.
The cuts would also have resulted in the final budget requiring a tax levy increase of only $7,039, or 0.1 per cent.
Councillors expressed their concerns over items remaining in the budget, namely the funding for recreational programs and facilities, the purchase of a track hoe, water metering, the addition of municipal staff, and depleting reserve funds.