Toronto City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on proposed cuts to city services that would amount to only $30 million in savings, according to figures revealed by a top bureaucrat.

Toronto city council has voted in favour of about $26 million in cuts to certain programs and services — a mere fraction of a deficit that has been estimated at between $500- and almost $800 million.

The cuts from the so-called core services review were estimated at around $100 million, but most of the more controversial cuts, such as library closures, have been taken off the table outright or pushed to future debates.

The total amount of potential cuts continued to shrink during Tuesday's debate, as council voted against some of the reductions. For instance, motions passed making the Toronto Youth Cabinet and Community Environment Days exempt from cuts.

Austerity measures that passed included the sale of the Toronto Zoo and three city-run theatres, as well as the elimination of paid-duty police officers at construction sites.

Council members on both sides of the debate claimed victory. Left-leaning Coun. Janet Davis said Mayor Rob Ford's agenda had been rejected, while Ford called Tuesday a victory for taxpayers.

"This is the first step," Ford said. "A lot of people said it couldn't be done. We did it."

Despite the relatively modest cuts, Ford said the debate has been worth it.

"I think this is a very good exercise and at the end of the day people now understand that we have to stop spending down here and we have to focus on delivering core services.”

Ford said if council doesn't vote for cuts they'll have to live with the consequences of a large tax increase: "They're the ones that are going to have to look their constituents in the eye and say, 'I voted for a 20 per cent tax increase' or 'I didn't.' Or, 'I voted for a 2.5 per cent tax increase' or 'I didn't.' I know the side that I'm going to be on. I'm going to say, 'I was elected to clean up a mess; I cleaned it up.' "

Ford said a 2.5 per cent tax increase is his maximum.

The mayor is promising that the real decisions will be made during the budget process.

"We're going to find the savings," he said.

The city's workforce will come under the microscope of some council members as the city looks to solve its financial woes.

"I know how to solve it," said Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti. "We need to lay off 7,000 people. I know how to solve it. We need to get rid of the top-heavy managers in this city."

Aside from the potential cuts, councillors debated a flurry of motions that some councillors believe could alleviate some of the financial pressure, including road tolls and de-amalgamating the mega-city, motions that were defeated.

Coun. Norm Kelly, a member of the mayor's executive, warned councillors that the discussion must remain focused and that avoiding cuts would mean a double-digit tax increase. "If you think there's blood on the floor now, you wait and see what's going to happen if you don't have the insight and the political will to support the recommendations that have come down to you from the executive committee."

Tuesday's council meeting follows nearly 12 hours of debating Monday, which pitted left-leaning councillors against Ford in a boisterous question and answer period.

Much of Monday's bickering inside City Hall was over the numbers, CBC's Trevor Dunn reported Tuesday.

Councillors demanded the city's top bureaucrat, city manager Joe Pennachetti, reveal how much the proposed service cuts would actually save the city.

"It took a while, but after it was all said and done, these service cuts that are on the table at this meeting, to be voted on later [Tuesday], are only worth $30 million," Dunn reported. "Not exactly chump change, but remember Mayor Ford said the city is over $700 million short in this budget, so it's going to take a lot more to get to that large number."

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday has warned unless Toronto's budget problems are solved, "the province of Ontario will have to step in and run the city."

Coun. Shelley Carroll, a former budget chief, told CBC's Matt Galloway Tuesday on Metro Morning that the big decisions may be postponed even beyond Tuesday's debate, with a possible vote to defer final decisions until November, when the city's budget process starts.

"We're being asked to cut things without the detail, and it's not until you have a real budget — with a giant set of analyst notes — that you really know the impact on your community that you represent," she said.

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