Comox council approved third reading for the financial plan Wednesday.
It includes a tax increase of 2.7 per cent but does increase the annual grant to the Sid Williams Theatre, following council's request.
Director of finance Don Jacquest said in his report to council that, by re-examining the financial plan, he was able to remove some funds from the snow-removal budget as well as bylaw enforcement vehicle expenses.
That allowed him to offset the additional $5,00 per year in cultural grants.
The five-year capital and operational budget would see the $25,000 increase spread from 2013 to 2017 — providing the theatre with $20,000 a year, up from $15,000.
The change came from a request from the board as an attempt to avoid a budget shortfall of $35,000 to $40,000.
In his report, Jacquest noted that he cannot yet "do the tax rates bylaw because we will not have the revised tax roll until the end of March. As soon as that is received, we can prepare that bylaw, too."