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Tonight’s city council meeting was relatively short — just over two hours — but it packed a lot of punch.

A draft of the city budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which began just over six months ago, was introduced this evening by an 8-1 vote, with Ward E councilman Steven Fulop casting the lone no vote. The appropriations included in the draft budget total just north of $500 million, an increase from last year’s final tally of about $475.7 million.

City business administrator Brian O’Reilly told the council that this year’s tax levy is estimated to be $190 million, up $40 million from the 2009 levy, an increase of more than 25 percent. O’Reilly estimated that this represents a tax hike of approximately $800 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano, who is a member of the subcommittee of the council charged with preparing the budget, told the council that the budget is still a “work in progress” and he hopes to “pare off another five to six million” before presenting a final draft. Sottolano told JCI after the meeting that the committee’s goal is to have a final draft “within a month.”

The budget was walked on to the council agenda at the eleventh hour, following the city’s receipt of a $14 million special municipal aid package from the state, which required the introduction of a city budget.

Fulop’s nay on the budget was couched in fiery remarks directed at Ward B councilman David Donnelly, who was one of the seven council members who voted down Fulop’s proposed tax relief plan at the meeting. Fulop found support for his first-read ordinance only in Ward F councilwoman Viola Richardson, who voted for introduction despite saying she wasn’t sure the plan was “exactly where we need to go.”