Coun. Betty Irwin has joined Councillors Doug Graham and Ranj Pillai in indicating the city's proposed $63.4-million operating budget for 2011 will not have her vote unless a significant change is made.

Until the proposed property tax hike of four per cent is brought down to 1.5 per cent, putting it more in line with the increase to inflation and population boosts over the last year, Irwin will vote against the final two readings of the budget bylaw.

She made the statement at Monday night's city council meeting during discussion around a public input report on the budget, arguing the proposed four per cent tax hike is not warranted.

Using an equation from a report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business about municipal spending, Irwin suggested it's only the 1.5 per cent increase that's needed.

"I simply can't accept a four per cent increase,” she said.

Residents and businesses are forced to look at reducing expenditures in such circumstances, she added.

Irwin also took issue with city staff. She said it's not fair for administration to tell council to come up with cost-cutting measures; rather, that's something staff should be doing, she believes.

Her comments raised the ire of Mayor Bev Buckway. She said she found it "incomprehensible” that the councillor would bring forward the 1.5 per cent increase after sitting through meeting after meeting and going through the budget process.

If the city were to go with just a 1.5 per cent tax hike, Buckway wondered, what department would Irwin want to see cut?

Irwin later defended herself, noting she had brought her issues forward during earlier budget discussions among council and staff. Last night, she was simply reiterating those views, she said.

The mayor, who was a councillor in 2004 when a 3-3 vote by council defeated the originally proposed operating budget, also recalled the amount of work and overtime hours spent by staff on coming up with a new spending plan for the city at that time. Buckway was among the three in favour of the budget, which was defeated.

If just one council member favouring the budget is absent from next week's council meeting, history could repeat itself, with Graham and Pillai also indicating they'll vote against the fiscal blueprint.

Graham voted against first reading last month. He took issue with another four per cent tax increase and further four per cent hikes planned in 2012 and 2013. There have also been steady tax increases over the last several years.

Pillai voted in favour of first reading to get it to the public input phase, but he has said he'll likely vote against second and third readings, as he would rather see tax increases that reflect changes to the Consumer Price Index.

While that would bring the tax hike to two per cent for 2011, Pillai also noted he has no problem with another percentage increase to accommodate planned changes to the bus system for this year as well.

Graham continued to defend his position during last night's discussions. He said he doesn't have a problem with some of the staff the city is planning to hire due to population growth, such as the planning position which will be needed as work continues on Whistle Bend, the next major residential subdivision for the city.

There's no need; however, for positions such as the two service counter staff proposed to be hired at the Canada Games Centre.

While membership numbers at the recreation centre continue to rise, Graham said he wants to see revenues at 60 per cent before more staff are hired.

He also took issue with the $1 million that would come out of reserves for the budget to address labour costs emerging from the city's new employee classification system.

Discussions continued to heat up as Councillors Dave Stockdale and Florence Roberts joined the conversation.

Stockdale questioned whether Irwin's proposed 1.5 per cent tax increase considers major community facilities like the Canada Games Centre.

"Is the Canada Games Centre something we don't want?” he asked, after Irwin explained her equation was based on operating costs only.

Graham quickly jumped in, telling Stockdale to "get real.”

If Stockdale, a councillor since 1983, is going to "ask stupid questions,” it shouldn't be done in a public forum, Graham declared.

Stockdale responded by arguing his questions are real issues and requested a list by Graham of where cuts could be made. Graham quickly listed off a number of arguments he had made earlier.

"It's not like these are a secret,” Graham said.

If he was a full-time city employee, he added, he could go through the budget line-by-line and look at areas to be cut. Like Irwin, Graham noted that's not his job, but is up to staff.

Roberts suggested if Irwin wants to bring forward a 1.5 per cent tax increase, she should do it in June, when the city starts working on the budget for next year.

"That's the time to do it,” Roberts said, arguing council had agreed to tax hikes of no higher than four per cent.

As the discussion waned, Graham and Irwin commented they had never agreed to the four per cent hikes.

In the public input report presented to council, staff defended the budget. A tax increase based on the Consumer Price Index doesn't work, officials have said, as it doesn't account for new programs and services and isn't based on the same goods a municipality faces in costs.

It was also stated the city's tax hikes are actually lower than those of a number of cities across the country, and there are programs in place such as the territory's home owner grant and the city's seniors' utility grant to off-set taxes and utility bills, which would go up 7.33 per cent.

Second and third readings of the budget will come forward next week along with the final two readings of the bylaw outlining the fees for the next year.