City council approved a 2.5 per cent property tax increase on Tuesday, but a municipal workers' union, currently involved in heated labour talks with the city, claims Torontonians are willing to pay more to preserve services.

CUPE Local 416, which represents about 8,000 of the city’s outside workers, commissioned a survey conducted by Environics that shows 64 per cent of respondents want services maintained, even if a tax increase or a user fee was needed to fund them.

The poll also shows 46 per cent of people believe the mayor is out of touch when it comes to “addressing the city’s priorities.”

The results coincide with council’s first day of budget debates. The 2012 operating budget contains about $80 million worth of service cuts to city-run arenas, some pools, subsidized child care and TTC service reductions.

The telephone survey of 600 adult Torontonians was conducted between Jan. 10 and 13, also shows 84 per cent of respondents want the city to maintain or increase spending on public services and programs in the next few years. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus four percent, 19 times out of 20.

“The message we’ve heard … right across the city is: don’t gut our services,” Coun. Gord Perks said Tuesday.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong had a different take on the results.

“The people that I talk to say they want to keep taxes down,” he said. “And we’re looking at a 2.5 per cent [property tax] increase… we want to try and keep the city affordable.”

Local 416 is currently in the midst of tense labour negotiations with the city. Its contract expired on Dec. 31 and the city is insisting it drop its so-called “jobs for life” provision for most workers. The union offered a three-year wage freeze last week, but that was rejected by city negotiators.