St. Catharines City Council gave the 2013 budget the stamp of approval Monday evening.

St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan tells CKTB the increase wound up being around 2.5%.

That translates to an increase of around $74 for the average homeowner.

Councillors spent more than 2 hours discussing various points of the budget, including the contentious Customer Service Program which saw its budget cut in half.

Council cut around $125 000 in all from the budget, with other cuts to the senior staff Christmas Party.