Budget deliberations are in full swing in Centre Wellington chambers.

On Thursday, council had several "parking lot" items to discuss, hoping to reduce the proposed tax increase of 8.54 per cent. CAO Dan Wilson says that number has begun to drop.

"We're now down below seven-and-a-half per cent. So, council has made some reductions and we anticipate maybe a few more," Wilson stated.

Council made several moves before reaching the new figure, including a shift in funding to aid infrastructure at the Centre Wellington Sportsplex.

"Council decided that they wanted to accelerate the capital project that relates to the basketball nets in the sportsplex hall," Wilson explained.

"That brought $30,000 from 2025 into 2024. They also accelerated 'seating heating' in the sportsplex pad 'B' of $35,000. They're delaying two tourism-related projects," he added.

Another move that played a part in the number dropping, he added, was termite management funds being covered.

"The termite impact on taxation was going to be over one per cent. Council has decided to use some OLG funding that we receive every year to reduce that, so it's down to about a 0.8 per cent impact on taxation, which helps out the tax dollars," Wilson said.

Deliberations are set to continue today.

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