Windsor city council passed the 2015 budget with no property tax increase for a seventh year in a row.

For mayor Drew Dilkens, Monday night's nine-hour session came down to the wire.

"Someone's keeping tally and keeping track of the numbers,” says Dilkens. “It's making sure we get to that tally before we actually commit to that final number."

It was a $746-million budget, including $98-million of capital funding this year and a five-year-roads and sewers allocation of $268 million.

Dilkens says it's getting harder by the year to hold the line on taxes.

“We know there are pressures out there and every year they get more difficult, more challenging," says Dilkens.

Especially when council is faced with passionate pleas to keep services open.

“We should be investing in these disadvantaged neighbourhoods, not pulling services out of them," says Chris Reid.

Two of those, the Adie Knox ice pad and community programming at Windsor Water World were on the chopping block. Service reductions would provide more than $400,000 in savings to the city.

Councillors eventually agreed, voting to keep those open, at least for now.

Another proposal would have seen one-hour of free parking at two downtown garages eliminated to create an estimated $187,000 in additional revenue. The downtown Windsor BIA pushed back.

“It's detrimental to the downtown quality of life,” says DWBIA chair Larry Horwitz. “Eliminating free parking in municipal garages will deter visitation to the city centre even further."

Council put the brakes on the idea, deferring any changes until 2016 while a parking strategy is devised. Councillors did pass a motion to raise metered parking rates by 25 cents an hour to a $1.50 - which is expected to pump an extra 200,000 into city coffers.

After a bit of a shell game, which saw an increase to the operating budget and decrease of one-time reserve funding, council hit its magic number - zero.

“By passing this motion now, you are literally the only community in Canada that can say that they've held the line on taxes for seven years in a row," says Dilkens.

City treasurer Onorio Colucci says don't count on an eighth year.

“I wouldn't want to say it's absolutely done,” says Colucci. “But most likely, we're going to be looking at modest increases going forward.”