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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City councillors have whittled next year's proposed 4.75 per cent tax rate hike down to 3.96 per cent after two nights of budget deliberations.

The aim of the discussions, as stated by many councillors at the onset, was to get the amount as close to zero as possible.

"I'll do everything I can to try and bring the increase down to a reasonable level," said city councillor David Wind before discussions started Tuesday night.

"I hope that we can end up with zero," added Coun. Bob Brooks.

To do that councillors would have needed to eliminate some $900,000 from the general fund - capital projects do not affect the tax rate.

In the end, however, councillors managed to cut just over $200,000.

On the first night of discussions, Tuesday, councillors knocked the increase down to 3.69 per cent by eliminating various studies and decreasing some fund amounts, including the councillor's own contingency fund.

That proposed tax increase rose fractionally to 3.93 per cent on Wednesday, however, as some decisions from the previous night were revisited.

Chief among those was the decision to cut special grant funding down to $39,800 from $100,000 and reallocate much of the money toward core grant funding. Special grants are awarded to community groups on a one-time basis while core funding recipients receive funding every year.

"Nobody is losing out in the sense (that) no promises were broken," said Coun. Kevin Kennedy, who led the push to redistribute funds.

Kennedy was referring to promises made to core grant funding recipients, such as the Yellowknife Senior's Society and the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, to boost the $300,000 pot by $60,200. Special grant recipients and amounts, on the other hand, he reasoned, had yet to be announced.

The proposed boost was a hot topic among councillors in November, as administration did not put the increase in the budget because it would violate a territorial government provision that overall grant funding not equal more than two per cent of general fund expenditures.

"If you do (increase funding) it will have ramifications," city administrator Max Hall reminded council during deliberations.

The boost went through, however, as Kennedy led the push to rearrange funding and scrap $30,000 in spring clean-up grants. Council decided the cleanup will now be funded through city operations and maintenance expenditures.

Council also eliminated the curling club's request for $20,000 in core funding, opting to address funding for the club during upcoming lease renegotiations.

The rest of core grant funding was made up by moving funds from special grants to core grants.

On Wednesday, councillors reversed that decision.

Coun. Shelagh Montgomery made the motion to put $50,000 - the wiggle room council allowed itself after removing $50,000 in clean-up and curling club grants - back into special grants, putting its budget back up to just under $90,000.

She made the case that not only do most groups budget for the amount they think will be available, but also that special grant groups provide myriad services to the city.

"I really don't think it's a fair decrease to make," she said, referring to the previous night's decision.

"The reallocation (seems) a little steep and a little one-sided," added Coun. Mark Heyck.

The motion to put money back into special grants, and increase taxes, passed - but barely, with the mayor acting as a tie-breaker.

Council votes on whether to adopt the revised budget at Monday's council meeting.