Forget about increases in property taxes. Don't look for wholesale changes to city worker wages. Expect that your sewer bill will stay constant for the next couple of years.

City councilors weighed a variety of options for balancing the city budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but on Monday night, the city Finance Committee approved a flat budget plan that largely relies on using reserves to fill a gap between expected spending and expenses.

The agenda for the May 25 City Council meeting will include a final vote on the fiscal year 2011-12 budget; however, consensus reached at Monday's committee meeting indicates few changes are in store. All but one member of the nine-member governing body attended the meeting.

Although supporters of a property-tax increase backed away from the idea earlier this spring, on Monday they formally withdrew a resolution that proposed to hike the city's portion of property taxes.

Mayor David Coss said his co-sponsors — Councilors Carmichael Dominguez, Rosemary Romero, Chris Calvert and Ron Trujillo — had agreed to drop the tax proposal.

"We are satisfied with the budget work this year," Coss said.

Councilors were facing a nearly $9 million budget deficit at the beginning of the budget process. They filled it about halfway through changes to management structures, vacancies in some positions and other savings that the city manager says are sustainable. About $600,000 is supposed to be sliced from compensation for union workers and will be the subject of future negotiations.

The rest of the difference, under the plan approved Monday, will be made up through transfers of cash from the water and wastewater divisions and from other cash balances. About $1.5 million is supposed to be deducted in equal percentage from reserve funds that can be raided without legislative changes.

The city will also keep about $9.6 million in its general fund reserve, several million more than is required by state law.

Among other budget plans rejected by the Finance Committee on Monday was a proposal from Councilor Miguel Chavez to cut employee wages across the board and a proposal to transfer $4 million from the wastewater reserve fund.

Councilors also approved an ordinance that removes previous plans to hike sewer rates by 4.7 percent in the autumns of 2012, 2013 and 2014. That move comes after officials learned the increases were based on erroneous financial reports.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.