Following a marathon meeting that included a lot of finger pointing and tough talk about respecting the wishes of taxpayers, Brampton council has voted to increase the city's portion of the tax bill by 3.3 per cent.

It's the lowest increase delivered so far under Mayor Linda Jeffrey, although the budget hike on the city portion of the tax pie remains above the inflation rate as Brampton looks to get a handle on a massive infrastructure gap.

Jeffrey commended council for its support of recommendations following a report by former Ontario auditor general Jim McCarter last year that identified a bloated bureaucracy and depleting reserves among key areas of concern.

The 2017 tax hike includes a 2 per cent special tax for the upkeep of roads and other infrastructure.

Coupled with the Region of Peel’s portion of the tax bill at 0.4 per cent increase, and a zero per cent increase for school board, the total increase in Brampton’s residential property tax will be 2.3 per cent, or $107, on an average house assessed at $443,000.

Wednesday’s final approval comes after several council workshops and public consultations on the budget held over the last month. Debates on budget items began in the morning during regular meeting of council and spilled into the evening during a public session on the budget.

While councillors sailed through most of the 2017 financial document, which includes an operating budget of $631.6 million and $183.3 million for capital expenditures, city leaders sparred on items some tried to pass off as trivial.

Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars earmarked for corporate artwork, employee gym and upgraded staff gathering area fitted with large screen televisions have been either put on hold or scrapped altogether after The Guardian brought them to light.

“It’s about building a team environment,” said Harry Schlange Chief Administrative Officer, defending the expenditures before councillors voted to yank them out of the budget document “after receiving feedback from the community.”

Councillors also got into a heated exchange about their office budgets, which further exposed the deep divide between the mayor and council so far this term.