The Honolulu City Council is scheduled today to take a final vote on the city's operating budget — and close a $50 million shortfall — through spending cuts and a combination of raising user fees and property taxes.

It's an unfortunate, but understandable, circumstance. Unlike the state, the city has relatively little spending flexibility. It has to provide the basics — public safety, roads, sewers — recession or not.

Falling property values have already cut into the city's primary source of revenue. Even so, the council has a responsibility to make sure its plans to raise money don't harm the most vulnerable.

In this faltering economy, those already living on the margins can ill afford any more strain on their finances.

That's why decisions to raise taxes and fees should be made with extraordinary care. A one-time tax credit, for instance, can offset an increase in the property tax rate; for a senior living on a fixed income in a modest home, a $150 tax credit — one of the proposed options — could help offset the tax increase.

Likewise, targeted user fees paid by those who choose to — such as golfers on municipal courses or zoo patrons — make sense as a way to support those programs in tight budgetary times.

Looking ahead, the city will need more options than raising taxes and fees. It will have to focus on its biggest expense — labor — and negotiate cost savings with the unions. But for now, the bottom line should be to keep the pain to a minimum.