The council chamber was packed. Media were out in full force. And many councillors donned their Sens jerseys in anticipation of last night's Game 7 playoff showdown. But if the Sens jerseys were meant to show the public that council had put its game face on and was ready to tackle the 6.5% tax hike demon and permanently trim city expenditures … our elected friends didn't even make the pre-game skate.

Yes council die cut and/or defer by $20 million - an underwhelming 1% of the total operating budget - and in the process found money for a residential tax rebate scheme. (See John Steinbachs article on page XX for full details). It is at best a partial victory for residential taxpayers. But city finance chief Lloyd Russell warned council that the tax shift is back next year, in 2005 and so on.

As for initiating a core service review, setting clear spending priorities, jump starting the Budget 2004 debate or trimming the size of the city's 12,500 person bureaucracy - larger today than pre-amalgamation combined staffing levels - such ideas were for the most part absent during yesterday's meeting which was more akin to a Dalton McGuinty pre-campaign rally than a detailed discussion of city fiscal policy.

Of course Premier Eves didn't help himself by displaying his ignorance in yesterday's Sun by suggesting Ottawa, and other cities, shouldn't have a problem since we profit by keeping tax rates stable on a growing assessment base. Memo to Ernie: No we don't … check with Finance Minister Ecker on this.

As for the rebate scheme, apparently it was the brainchild of staff earlier this week and according to the Ottawa Insider the Mayor's staff were busy meeting with most councillors - except for those who actually believe in fiscal responsibility and were prepared to make $40 million or more in budget cuts - to make it reality yesterday. In the end, the scheme passed by a vote of 21-0.

The fix was in from the get go which makes yours truly wonder why did I catch a red-eye from Vancouver to Toronto to Ottawa to sit through five hours of mostly pointless speeches and tedious pontificating when it's clear the council could have wrapped things up in 90 minutes … max.

Councillor Doucet walked us through Property Tax 101 although it's still not clear whether his questions were for the public's education or his own. Elisabeth Arnold trotted out the now all-too-familiar, cities are getting hosed, we have a funding gap, the sky is falling argument. It's a great diatribe, but the problem won't be solved tomorrow.

On a related noted, And the CTF generated massive media coverage last week with our 5th annual Gas Tax Honesty Campaign (GTHC) and proposal for a Municipal Roadway Trust to return $2.2 billion in gas taxes annually to Canadian cities. This proposal was endorsed by the Deputy Mayor of Toronto, the Canadian Alliance, the Alberta Government and the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, but not a single one Ottawa councillor or bureaucrat has sought details.

Alex Cullen - who is no slouch on the property tax file - rightly pointed out provincial PC bungling of this file given eight separate pieces of property tax legislation in as many years. Yet neither the McGuinty grits nor the Hampton socialist are offering up anything to replace our archaic, assessment driven property tax regime.

But the silver lining in yesterday's stage-managed cloud of buying time, buying votes and buying more of the same next year is that taxpayers responded with 5,000 petition signatures in eight days. Strewn on the floor outside the council chamber they were a formidable sight. And for a few fleeting hours yesterday the Mayor and council acted as if they actually work for us.

Sadly, those hours have passed, next week; it will be back to normal.