City councillor Ted Laking has delayed putting forward his motion to halt the city hall renovation project.

The motion was on the agenda for the past Monday’s meeting but was put to next week’s standing committee meeting.

When it came time to discuss the motion, Laking said that in a conversation with his colleagues on council, it was agreed to put the city hall discussion over to next week.

Laking put his colleagues on notice at last week’s meeting that he would be bringing forward a motion to halt the project because of spiraling costs.

The motion notes when the city hall project was originally approved in 2014, the budget was set at $9.7 million.

The budget estimate is now set at $26.2 million, with approximately $15 million in external funding coming from the territorial and federal governments.

The motion directs city administration to halt the city hall renovation project and return to council with options to reduce the estimate cost.

The options include a reduction in the scope of the project, outright cancellation of the project and consideration of different locations for the relocation of staff, such as the Operations Building.

The motion also calls for plans to contain and prevent future cost increases related to the project.

Laking notes the money for the venture is coming from Whitehorse taxpayers, and the city has an inherent responsibility to taxpayers.

The city hall project involves demolishing the front section facing Second Avenue (the original city hall built in 1966) while keeping the rear section, the newest section where council chambers are located. It also involves the demolition of the old fire hall next door.

The project calls for a new transit station attached to city hall with public washrooms, to be located where the fire hall is.

Council voted Monday to adopt the capital budget for the years 2022 to 2025.

It calls for category A expenditures of $30 million from city reserves over the next five years.

The budget also identifies a list of category B expenditures that are dependent on securing external funding from the federal and territorial governments.

The city hall project is the last of the major projects in the city’s building consolidation plan under which the new $55-million Operations Building and the new $3.8-million Black Street fire hall were built.