A zero-based approach to Orangeville's 2006 budget has thus far resulted in saving $619,000 by increasing projected revenues and reducing expenditures proposed in the first draft budget presented to council.

This means that instead of a proposed 11.5 per cent increase in the budget from last year, the hike now sits at 8.1 per cent with spending proposed at $16,680,400. And at least one more budget session is planned.

For the "average" taxpayer, instead of paying an additional $170 in property taxes for town purposes, the increase now would be $124, for a total bill of $1,569 for a house assessed at $221,300.

County and education costs are expected to require $104 more than last year, producing a total tax bill for the same property of about $3,150. (In 2005, the "average" house was assessed at $199,100 and paid $2,806, with $1,424 going to the Town, $824 to Dufferin and $558 to the provincial education levy.)

Orangeville Treasurer Wayne Church said the budget presented probably wasn't 100 per cent zero-based because of the time frame given to come up with it.

With a 5-2 vote the largest cut approved during the fourhour meeting was in the library budget, by $240,000 annually, or $169,000 in 2006.

Library Chief Mark Gagnon told council that in order to reduce the cost associated with the library, operating hours would have to be shortened - to about 90.5 hours per week from the current 112.5.

Council was presented with eight options to do this and chose option 8 where both libraries will be closed one day each per week and closed 90 minutes earlier every day.

Councillor Gail Campbell was not impressed by this, saying she would like to see the library budget reduced as little as possible compared to other departments.

"It's [the library] a community wide service that we operate, not just for skaters, not just for sports, but for anybody in the community," she said.

"The literacy of our community is too important to say 'okay, we're going to the very top [of the options listed].' "

Mayor Drew Brown responded that Councillor Campbell's comments bring the councillors back to the point of needing to decide how much of a tax increase they can support, because without it they could not know what they were working toward or how many cuts they needed to make.

He also said he doesn't want to be remembered as someone who cut the library budget, but it needed to be done.

"At this point, I believe, the leadership that needs to be shown in this community is to make the cuts necessary to bring in a tax increase that is reasonable. We cannot do it without having some blood on the floor; there's got to be

some pain," he said, adding:

"We've been able to dodge the bullet in years gone by or we've been willing to pass on significant increases. I think the time has come when we have to say enough is enough and it's time to show the leadership and make the cuts necessary to do that."

He added that he has been told that the main library branch has difficulty getting any repair work done because they are open daily.

"There's not a service that we provide that you can't make a very strong case for that's not only maintaining, but it's prudent in the level of service. Something has to give and I think this is one of the somethings."

Deputy Mayor Jim MacGregor agreed. "We can't be all things to all people all the time," quoting MPP John Tory from a business luncheon held earlier this month.

Councillor Doug Wilcox didn't support the move, stating he can't support closing the main branch, a useful piece of the community that brings people downtown, which is what council wants.

However, he stated he could have supported option 4, which would have seen the Alder Street branch closed two days a week.

It was left for the library board to decide what days the libraries close and when to cut out 90 minutes from the business hours.

The $16,600 Communities in Bloom Committee budget was eliminated for the actual committee and the Town Hall administration garden.

Councillor Ken Manwell, a member of the committee, didn't want the committee delayed for a year and would have preferred the budget to be reduced instead, as he said there have been a lot of volunteer hours spent on it and fears losing some members.

Mayor Brown said the committee budget was peanuts compared to how much money is being spent on Broadway already this year and suggested it could be left out for another year.

Councillor Manwell didn't completely disagree with the mayor and agreed it was time to show leadership and restraint.

The next cut made was one of $7,500 to the Vicki Barron Lakeside Trail. Councillor Manwell said it's a luxury the Town can't afford at this time, although Councillors Campbell and Strang disagreed.

Councillor Strang said this type of trail is lowcost to maintain and wouldn't add much to the operating budget.

With the budget cuts came a few additions. A $300 grant was added for an Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) fundraiser and a motion to keep $7,500 for sensitivity training also passed.

Council's next budget meeting will be on April 3.