A decision on Mississauga’s proposed 2020 budget has been deferred.

The move to defer, which council voted unanimously for on Dec. 4, delays the next Mississauga budget session until Jan. 22 and after all scheduled Region of Peel budget sessions.

Ward 2 Coun. Karen Ras moved the motion to defer and said it wasn’t “prudent to approve” the city’s budget until after Peel Region's fiscal plan is clarified.

“I think we have to do more work at the region,” she said. “They're the bigger piece of the puzzle and until we know what exactly we're dealing with from the region then we can take another look at where we need to make further reductions at the city budget.”

As it stands, Peel’s proposed budget has a 2.1-per-cent increase, which combined with Mississauga’s would mean a more than $200 hike in property taxes for a house assessed at $688,000 by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

The latest proposal from city staff, which did not pass, would raise residential property taxes by 1.64 per cent, lower than the 1.74- per-cent hike that was pitched when the budget process began. For a house assessed at $688,000, a 1.64-per-cent increase would be around $90.52 more on the city’s portion of property taxes.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said that 1.64 per cent is a “very acceptable” increase and that there’s “opportunities for savings” at the regional level.

“I think what came out of today is that we need to begin the process of reviewing the regional budget first and get that passed and then look at our city budget,” she said.

Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish pointed to the Peel Regional Police budget as an opportunity for savings.

Parrish said she wants to see a proposed 5.3-per-cent increase for Peel Regional Police lowered to what Toronto Police Services are asking for 2020, a 3.9-per-cent boost.