As peacefully as aldermen agreed on the 2006-07 city budget, determining the fate of about $182 million in less than two months can be a bit of a strain, aldermen said.

“You can always use more time to work out how you can save money,” Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said.

The Evanston City Council began discussing a proposal for the budget Jan. 7 and passed it Monday.

Before the budget passed, aldermen began talking about how to improve the process of forming a budget next year. They suggested reinstating a budget policy committee to meet and develop ideas throughout the year.

The 2006-07 budget passed without much controversy thanks in part to the organizational reforms taken by the Evanston Budget Policy Committee, which used to meet year-round in addition the the rush of the January-February budget season, aldermen said.

The committee was discontinued about five years ago. Moran, who served on the committee, said the group disbanded because some aldermen ignored it.

A budget committee would give aldermen the chance to consider substantial policy changes as well as look for smaller details that might point to a way to lessen spending, Moran said.

“If we’re not going to raise taxes, we’re going to have to look at how big of a government we can afford,” Ald. Delores Holmes (5th) said.

Although no aldermen said they necessarily supported cutting positions, aldermen said they might review staffing policies in the future. Currently fairly unchangeable personnel needs consume about 80 percent of the budget.

This year’s budget planning season was the first for Alds. Holmes and Anjana Hansen (9th). Holmes said the process brought up a lot of questions.

Holmes said she feels a budget policy committee would give her a chance to increase her understanding of the vastly complex budget process.

But most importantly, a committee would give the opportunity to be “diligent,” a word repeatedly mentioned by the current council, she said.

“We, as aldermen, have to be very diligent,” Holmes said. “That’s what most of us came onto the council to do. It’s what elected officials should do.”

Quickly addressing controversial portions of the budget proposal, the efforts of the city manager and good relations among the aldermen also helped ease the passage of the 2006-07 budget, aldermen said.

Aldermen said City Manager Julia Carroll did well in her first full budget season, but Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) said it takes years for a city manager to become familiar enough with the process to initiate reform. Carroll took her position during the 2005-06 budget season.

Taxes and cuts cause most budget conflicts, Wynne said.

Because the council decided to eliminate a cut to mental health services in January and showed minimal interest in a food and beverage tax, no constituency felt particularly threatened.

Citizen comment at the budget meetings in January and February drew in about 15 residents, mostly businessmen opposed to the suggested food and beverage tax.

City staff also reassessed the budget to locate extra dollars and aldermen created new means to earn money for the city. The new sources included increases in the cigarette tax, charges for the late payment of parking fines and the cost of building permits.

“They’re all pretty reasonable,” Wynne said. “There was no significant issue in an area that had a constituency.”

Reach Elizabeth Gibson at e-gibson @northwestern.edu.