But the move has failed to impress colleagues Ron Mildren and Libby Hall who on Monday night both voted against the council’s budget.

They argued the city should have immediately stopped overcharging for the waste fee which the Victorian Ombudsman found in April had been rorted by the council for a decade.

Under the new budget, the waste levy is $202, an overall reduction of $51.20 from 2017-18.

That equates to a $715,000 drop in operating revenue, but council whistleblower Charlie Mitchell said citizens will still each be overcharged $89.60 on the fee, a tally of $1.7 million.

Cr Quilty said he would “grit my teeth” and vote for the budget based on the levy cut because it effective delivered an overall zero rate rise.

“During the last couple of months in budget discussions I’ve said….the minimum cut in waste management I’d be able to accept would be about $50,” he said.

“I never thought that would be taken seriously, at the time a cut of that magnitude seemed utterly impossible, it couldn’t be done, but I guess a few weeks of bad publicity can shift positions.”

Cr Mildren said it was “morally and ethically inappropriate” to keep overcharging for waste services.

“We’ve been found by the Ombudsman to have done the wrong thing and yes the Ombudsman has given us three years within which to rectify the problem, but I don’t think that gives us the right to continue to charge for something that isn’t what we’re using the money for,” Cr Mildren said.

Cr Hall suggested further budget cuts could have been made, but said she had not had the chance to put her ideas forward due to missing a key meeting.

Mayor Anna Speedie noted the council had received historically high feedback on its budget, but waste trailled other concerns such as roads and parks.

“There was three (comments) out of the 2000-2500 online,” Cr Speedie said.

“Does that make it any less important, no it does not, but it certainly highlights the interest of our community across a plethora of both services and things we continue to provide.” 

Other amendments made to the draft budget included cutting consultancy costs for the Wodonga Story project and contract payments for the Sculpt Wodonga Arts Festival.

Those steps save $315,000.

The Selling the Wodonga Story project has been removed at a cost of $100,000.

Cr Quilty said the budget could not be called lean.

“There’s plenty of fat,” Cr Quilty said.

“We’ve tucked some rolls into our belt but they’re still bulging out at the seams.”