However, it comes with a big proviso: in the next three years, there must be substantial personnel cuts so the Tremblay-Zampino administration can meet its reduction target of $100 million in the overall Big City tax bill. And that will hit services.

All of which leaves Borough Mayor Michael Applebaum wondering how he can make it work out. Can other forms of cost-cutting save jobs, for instance?

Although downtown regards the figures as tentative — they will only be voted on by the Big Montreal council in December — the proposed allocation would take the local budget to more than $71 million.

The $2.6 million is meant to cover increased costs of contract renewals, materials and labour. It also includes $660,000 to meet the additional costs of servicing the 2 500 new housing units constructed in 2007.

“I think it is clear to everyone that there have been many improvements since the decentralization in 2002,” Applebaum told me.

“Streets, sidewalks, parks are all cleaner. Buildings have been repaired. Even though, there is much more to be done.

“Although we complain about the allocation from the center city being too small, we also have to recognize that our operating allowance has actually risen by $17 million — almost a third — over the first six years.

“On the other hand, many services have been decentralized, so we have more to do.”

The borough employs nearly 500 people, so it is a difficult challenge and one that is very worrying.

CDN-NDG’s future — like that of all Montreal — depends on development. In the borough’s case, this means housing.

That results in a bigger population and extra people demand more services.

For every $100,000 of new property, Applebaum estimates that it costs the borough at least $30,000 to service it.

So, although the center city is providing more funds for 2008, the borough has no assurance that the $660,000 boost to funds will be forthcoming for future years. But costs will continue.

The new occupants will still want the garbage collected, the snow cleaned, a park to enjoy and the stimulation of a library.

There is a real danger that service levels will drop.

For various reasons, when the boroughs were first carved out of the megacity, CDN-NDG got the short end of the stick with many of the start-up allocations.

“The suburban cities were all operating entities and their costs were well established. However, no one knew how much it cost to operate the differing parts of Montreal,” Applebaum recalled.

Over the years there have been adjustments, but in many ways CDN-NDG remains a poor sister. This is despite having the largest population (172,000) and with its property evaluated at nearly $11 billion. That compares with $20 billion for downtown Ville-Marie borough and $9.6 billion for Saint-Laurent.

Services can be measured in many ways and there have to be many changes before equality can be seen throughout Montreal. Despite its reputation for Executive Committee secrecy, Montreal publishes voluminous budget details, so it is possible to measure many things.

For instance, there is one CDN-NDG employee for each 334 citizens. St Laurent is at the other end of the scale with each supporting only 142 citizens.

So, further reducing CDN-NDG’s level implies a major threat to services. How can they not drop? I’ll examine some of the steps that might minimize them in a future column.