Sudbury city council faces off over arena, expenses

Sudbury city councillors will be following the money at Tuesday night's meeting, with the big topics on the agenda dealing with the spending of tax dollars.

The biggest dollar figure on the table istied to replacing the 62-year-old Sudbury Arenawith a new rink, estimated to cost between $40 and $70 million. Councillor Fabio Belli is pushing for those plans to be sped up, so that a decision can be made this fall and construction canbegin in the spring.

Belli has a second motion on the floor, calling for changes to the controversial healthy community funds, which give each councillor $50,000 a year to spend in his or her ward. Belli said he wants that money to only be spenton city recreation projects, rather than donations to community groups and festivals.

City councillor JoscelyneLandry-Altmann also has a motion dealing with money councillors get to spend. Each Greater Sudbury city councillor is allotted $10,489 to spend on office expenses. But Landry-Altmannwants public expense reports to also include when councillors decide to pay for business costs themselves, rather than billing taxpayers.

Get blow-by-blow updates of tonight's meeting throughCBC News reporter Erik White's live blog: