Councillors passed a city budget including a five per cent tax increase Tuesday. (CBC)Edmonton homeowners will be hit with a hike of five per cent in their municipal taxes after the 2010-2011 city budget passed Tuesday.

The increase will add about $70 to the municipal tax bill of a home worth the city average of $361,500.

Among the expenses councillors decided to pick up for the 2010-2011 budget are a $10.8 million increase for the police budget, as well as money for new washrooms at transit stations, downtown and in Old Strathcona.

Council also dedicated $291,000 to keep Scona Pool at Strathcona High School open for one more year to allow the neighbourhood time to come up with new strategies to fund the public pool.

The budget also includes more money for transit, aimed at improving service during off-peak hours.

Public libraries were allocated another $288,000, so a proposal to close some libraries over the 2010 Christmas season no longer needs to be considered.

Councillors approved the financial plan unanimously and quickly, with Coun. Roy Hayter calling it "a reasonable and forward thinking budget."

Mayor Stephen Mandel says council's firm direction on a budget target made the process easier. (CBC)The work of City Manager Al Maurer was praised by council.

"It was June we voted to tell you to do three and two, that was the direction," Mayor Mandel said, referring to a three-per-cent limit on increases for city departments and two per cent for an ongoing neighbourhood improvement plan.

"If we had set another one, 'you do it Al, come up with a number,' we'd be fighting for another four days," Mandel said.

Maurer said having the targets set early made the process far less difficult for him and his staff.

"When we talked back in June, we were at 12 or 13 per cent, and you know we did that the previous year, and you know the situation that we went through," Maurer said after the budget had been passed.

Some cuts might backfire

But he acknowledged that some of the budget cuts, like the decision to forgo contracts with snowplow operators, might backfire.

"We did trim six million out of the budget by not having a retainer, and that which we felt wasn't a direct impact to the citizens, but if we can't get the graders out, then that becomes a concern," he said.

Those concerns were echoed by Coun. Ben Henderson, who said the real impact of trimming city departments and services won't be know for some time.

"We cut back on our tree maintenance this year, that's not sustainable in the long haul, we're going to lose a lot more of the trees than we already have."

Councillors expressed satisfaction that the neighbourhood renewal program, which adds two per cent to the tax hike, did not fall victim to budget cuts.

"It will benefit all the residential areas of the city," said Coun. Don Iveson. "It's not cosmetic. It's preventative maintenance and it's what the city failed to do through the '90s ... that little bit of patching the cracks in the pavement can allow the whole slab of pavement and the curbs and gutters to survive a lot longer."

But the mayor also cautioned that more difficult budgets lie ahead.

"Let's not put out of perspective that every year we're spending $100 million more, and that's something that we're going to have to come to grips with," he said.