With the Dec. 11 date for its final 2008 budget drawing closer, Mono council met Tuesday, pens in hand, to find ways to trim the budget and reach its spending goals.

A preliminary draft of the budget presented two weeks ago featured a 14.5- per cent rise in spending over 2007. That figure had been pared down to 9.6 per cent prior to Tuesday's meeting, and was reduced to 8.9 per cent by the time the meeting was over. Notable cuts included decision not to spend close to $200,000 on a trash compactor for the landfill, as well as slashing $214,000 from the amount allocated for the resurfacing of 3rd Line next year.

Council was also able to come up with a 10.4-percent reduction in the total tax levy, to about $5.6 million from $6.2 million.

Since the town collects just 40 per cent of every municipal tax dollar (with the rest being shared by the county and the provincial education levy), the reduced levy means taxes for every $1,000 of a property's worth, under market value assessment, would increase one per cent, from $12 to $12.12.

Thus a taxpayer with a property assessed at $500,000, for example, would expect property taxes to rise from $6,000 to $6,060.

This would be reduced if the council can find room for more cost-cutting measures over the next two weeks.

One cut that raised some debate was the decision to reduce the budget for legal fees in 2008 from $40,000 to $20,000. Only $10,000 was budgeted for them in 2007.

Deputy Mayor Dave Baldwin opposed any reduction in the area, mentioning that the town "may be involved in more legal morasses this year."

The town is currently involved in a land expropriation process that has encountered resistance from some residents. (Mr. Baldwin did not make any reference to that issue.)

The budget presented to council Tuesday also showed total general revenues in 2008 on a par with 2007, as a decrease of just .7 per cent is forecast.