Budget committee members to meet with residents in North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke

But the former cities of East York and York, where local councillors also wanted budget meetings, will have to wait.

"We’re very limited in what we can do," said Gary Crawford, a Scarborough councillor appointed the city’s budget chief this month.

Crawford said he wanted committee members to fan out from city hall in order to reach more residents, an idea Mayor John Tory supports.

But with only two days to hear from the public, hearing deputations in the four quarters of the city, including city hall, is a necessary compromise for 2015, he said.

"It’s not going to be perfect this (coming) year. This at least moves us forward a bit," Crawford said.

On Feb. 2, one subcommittee under Crawford will be at Scarborough Civic Centre from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. onwards, while another with Etobicoke Councillor John Campbell, the budget vice-chairperson, will be in North York.

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The next day, the groups will host meetings during those same hours at city hall and the Etobicoke Civic Centre.

East York councillors Janet Davis and Mary Fragedakis, with Frances Nunziata of York, made a pitch for subcommittees visiting their centres too.

"It sends a message that parts of the city are important," Davis said.

East York still has a council chamber, and it’s a place where people believe the city speaks to them and they speak to the city, she argued.

Jim Karygiannis, a rookie Scarborough councillor, was unsympathetic.

If a budget subcommittee is sent eastward it should go straight to Scarborough, which is home to "a hell of a lot" more people than East York, he said.

Shelley Carroll, a former budget chief herself, warned against splitting the committee too thinly.

"We’ve done this before, and it’s not ideal," said the North York councillor, noting it would be impossible for either Crawford or city’s chief financial officer to be at all of the meetings if there were three each day.

Council has decided to have a comprehensive consultation on city spending priorities for a budget review that will cover 2016, 2017 and 2018.

But the coming year’s budget will be a rushed "post-election" affair in the early days of a new term, she said.

Crawford agreed, promising more days for listening to the public in 2016.

Glenn De Baeremaeker, a Scarborough councillor, said residents of the area find their civic centre "within striking distance" and are less inclined to go to city hall.

But some Toronto citizens – downtown people, he called them – are so passionate about budget issues they will travel outside the core to crowd the speaking lists at the subcommittee meetings, warned De Baeremaeker.

"They will come and push aside local citizens in North York and Scarborough."

Perhaps remembering marathon meetings on budget issues during the last council term with weariness, the committee approved a motion by Michelle Berardinetti of Scarborough limiting to one person each group or organization wishing to speak, and allowing that person to speak at just one regular budget committee meeting and one subcommittee meeting.

This way, "at least we wouldn’t be hearing from (the same) residents at multiple subcommittees," Berardinetti said.

The budget committee hopes to finish its work during the week of Feb. 20.