NORWICH – The Common Council met Tuesday night to discuss the 2007 city budget. Although the budget is not finalized, the city is discussing a possible 6.5 percent increase in the tax rate.

City Finance Director William Roberts had the floor for the majority of the meeting. He explained that when he initially comprised the numbers, the tax increase looked like it would be much higher.

“When I first began working on the budget, I comprised the numbers from the general fund, and it looked like it would be a 38 percent tax increase, without any significant changes,” Roberts said. The city has worked to make changes to the budget, cutting or reducing some programs and shifting money from one area to another. “With the changes, we could get the tax rate increase down to a single digit,” Roberts said.