City council voted in favour of fixing up Edmonton's older neighbourhoods instead of limiting the tax hike. It was expected that council would approve the 2011 budget Tuesday, but that didn't happen.

Councillors agreed the program that repairs Edmonton's crumbling roads and cracked sidewalks is important enough to warrant an increase on Edmontonians' tax bill.

Council voted for a 1.5 per cent tax hike for the renewal program, instead of the proposed 2 per cent hike because council wasn't able to spend all the money it set aside for the program last year.

"From my point of view taxing people when you're not able to spend the money doesn't make sense and so we adjusted it half a point this year, it might have to be adjusted up more next year... we'll just see," said Mayor Stephen Mandel.

Councillors have already approved an 8 per cent hike in water utility fees.

Some councillors CTV News spoke to believe the tax hike will be around 4 per cent. Council is expected to approve the 2011 budget on Thursday.

With files from Dez Melenka