Mayor Rob Ford says his early-term success in persuading councillors to cut their office budgets to $30,000 from $50,000 is one of his proudest accomplishments. But those councillors defied Ford on Wednesday to allow themselves to spend thousands more.

Over Ford’s strong objection, council voted to have constituency offices and cellphone expenses paid for from a general council budget rather than each councillor’s individual budget.

They also voted to dip into the general budget to allow each councillor to spend “an amount equivalent to the cost of postage or delivery by other means of one newsletter to all households within the ward.”

And they approved an annual inflationary increase for the individual budgets. At the current low rate of inflation, 1.2 per cent, they will each get a bump of $360 next year for a total cost to taxpayers of $15,840.

The changes, made on the council floor, occurred even after Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday consulted with each councillor over a period of months before proposing other changes they all agreed to.

“People are proud of us. I don’t know why we’re going backwards. We should be going forward,” Ford said in a speech Wednesday.

The constituency office change is most significant. Ford argued taxpayers could be on the hook for an additional $528,000, citing a hypothetical situation in which each of the 44 councillors rented a new office for $12,000 per year.

“You’re basically increasing our office budget to $42,000,” Ford said.

But the scenario he outlined is unlikely, at least in the short term. Most councillors who rent occasional cheap space in civic centres are likely to do so. Other councillors will likely not rent extra space. And some councillors already rent space in commercial buildings.

Councillor Joe Mihevc, who proposed the change in the treatment of constituency offices, called the offices “basic tools of our job.” He said they are especially needed by councillors whose wards are far from civic centres.

“I am absolutely certain that most councillors will not be renting space on commercial property,” he said.

But Holyday, who accused his colleagues of having a sense of entitlement, said he is certain most of them will gradually begin taking advantage of the new leeway.