The City of Thompson has officially started preparing for the next municipal election, which will be taking place in the fall.

At the finance and administration committee meeting earlier this afternoon, the committee discussed a new campaign expense by-law, a vote counting machine by-law amendment, and a by-law which would reduce the number of councillors.

The campaign expense by-law, which is required to be passed by City Council and in place 180 days before the election, lays out how much money a candidate can spend in the election, dependant on whether they're running for mayor or council. A memo, from City administration, recommends that the City use the same figures that were used in 2014; $10k for anyone running for mayor, and $5k for City Council.

The option to reduce the number of councillors, which have to take place at the next election, is one of the many suggestions that City Council brought forward to help the City save money in the face of the uncertain economic times.

The committee also looked at providing public transportation for free the Saturday of Winterfest.

None of the items discussed can be made official unless they are passed by Council.

The full agenda from the meeting can be found here.

The next regular meeting of Thompson City Council will take place on Monday at 7:00pm.