The Renton City Council is nearing completion of its deliberations for the $457 million city budget for 2013 and 2014.

Tonight (Monday, Nov. 26), the public will have a chance to comment on the budget at the council’s meeting at 7 p.m. in its council chambers. Also Monday night the council will have the first reading of resolutions related to the biennial budget adoption.

The council is expected to finalize the budget on Dec. 3. The council meets on the seventh floor of City Hall.

Prior to its regular meeting, the council, meeting as the Committee of the Whole, at 6 p.m. will discuss water fluoridation.

Mayor Denis Law presented his budget proposal to the council in October. It came with a $10 million revenue shortfall that will mean staff cuts, some rate increases and other cost-saving measures.

One possible new source of revenue is a $600 charge for patient transport by city fire crews to a hospital. The charge, which would be billed to an insurance carrier and not the patient, would raise about $325,000 a year for the general fund, under city estimates.

Firefighters filled the City Council chambers last week to raise objections to the new charge, pointing out transport is a service they now provide for free and the money wouldn’t necessarily go to fire services.

“It will not do anything for the fire department,” said Mark dos Remedios, who is president of the Renton IAFF Local 864.

But Jay Covington, the city’s chief administrative officer, points out that the fire department is funded from the general fund, which is supported by a number of revenue sources. That’s an advantage for the fire department, if one particular source falls short of forecast.

Here are the major resolutions and ordinances related to the budget:

• Fee schedule

• Basic life support transport fee

• 2013 property tax

• 2013 utility tax rates

• 2013-2014 biennial budget

Contact Renton Reporter Editor Dean Radford at editor@rentonreporter.com or 1-425-255-3484 (ext 5050).

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