It's spring, the season when a City Council member's thoughts turn to taxing and spending. The elusive goal: finding the balance point between pleasing the taxpayers on the one hand and delivering the services people want on the other.

Want an example of the squeaky wheel getting the grease? There's no better one than the government's budget juggling act.

So after several years of homeowner complaints about rising property tax bills, the City Council is making a decent effort to lower the property tax rate they pay.

This, said Council Budget Chairman Todd Apo, is because the homeowners' share of the collections has climbed from its traditional 50-percent share and now hovers close to 60 percent.

Most of the remaining 40 percent is covered by commercial property owners, who would be nudged upward about 4 percentage points under Apo's tax plan.

Proposing a modest rebalancing of who pays what share of the tax bill is reasonable enough.

The big story, however, is the growing operating budget. A year ago the budget expanded 16.2 percent, partly due to spending on sewers and other deferred maintenance, and the current proposal, a $1.6 billion budget, rose by another 9.7 percent.

The ramp-up for the mass- transit project is part of the recent increase, but so is the $60 million the mayor wants to set aside for "post-employment benefits" — retirement health coverage for city workers.

Council leaders realize they need to cut spending somewhere, and the most recent draft of the budget shows the largest cut is $29 million, coming from that benefits reserve. Apo thinks it's probably a mistake to cut that much, and he's right: Postponing the inevitable benefits payment only means it'll cost more later.

So now more than ever, the Council needs to demonstrate it has a tight rein on unnecessary spending in the city's operating budget if it is to justify raising the tax bill for anyone.

A cynic might enjoy a long laugh at that one — few in City Hall have a good record of playing by such rules.

However, the public is partly to blame for that. Taxpayers have to keep an eye on the spending plan and hold the Council accountable for any waste. A hearing on the tax-and-spend proposals next week (see box) provides a chance to do just that.