London city councillors backed off a wish list of expenditures that would have raised taxes an additional $25 on the average home during budget talks Monday night.
Budget deliberations don't officially get underway until next month, but already millions of dollars in expenditures were taken off the table.
Finance staff made a presentation with new ways to pay for initiatives that would have raised taxes an additional one per cent.
Now, the starting point for the budget was moved back from 3.9 per cent, to 2.9 per cent and that would mean $72 more on Londoners’ tax bill.
Staff recommends borrowing money to fix up the downtown library and for changes to the Convention Centre, while $2.5-million to close the city's infrastructure gap could be put on hold until 2016.
Budget building workshops are being held this week, official budget deliberations start in February.
