In return for a Chicago City Council independent budget office, aldermen would likely see a $3,000 reduction in individual funds for hourly or contractual employees, which is less than the initial $6,000 cut proposed last month, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Last month, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would move forward with setting up a “City Council Office of Financial Analysis," which would see $485,000 in funding a year, with $130,000 going to the office's director.

The mayor had initially proposed to slim down each alderman's $26,000-a-year funding for employees to $20,000, which would be added on to the council members' $73,280-a-year expense allotment for transportation and other ward office matters. Aldermen would be able to decide individually how to use the funds and if they want to take on any hourly employees.

But Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th), who has been leading the push for the new office, told the Chicago Sun-Times last week that the proposed cut to all council members' funding would be $3,000, not $6,000.

Nonetheless, the council's budget committee held off a vote on the proposal due to push back from some aldermen, specifically Ald. Anthony Beale (9th). The alderman has reportedly said the new independent budget office is unnecessary and should be paid for in a “pay-as-you-go,” hourly manner. Others have said the office may help to politically shroud aldermen who find it difficult to take votes on tough subjects.

But Pawar took those arguments to task, telling the newspaper, “At a time when we have a $340 million deficit, what that sounds like is, aldermen want more money in their expense account."

“The office itself represents one of the biggest reforms for city council ever — or that’s been passed in 25 years,” Pawar continued. “We have 2015 coming up. We’ve got the massive debt load. We’ve got a pension crisis. You need to ... have independent analysis if we’re going to be a co-equal branch of government.”

Pawar added that he believes the votes for the new office will be there when aldermen take it up with the mayor's proposed 2014 budget.