The Anchorage Assembly ran out of time Tuesday night and postponed action on Mayor Dan Sullivan's proposed $421 million 2010 budget until next month.

Assembly chairwoman Debbie Ossiander said the postponement means the body has to hold another public hearing before it acts. She set that hearing for 5 p.m. on Nov. 30, and called for a special meeting on Dec. 8 to vote on the spending plan.

The delay came minutes before 11 p.m. Technically, the Assembly could have extended its meeting for another hour, but the body had what Ossiander and Assemblyman Dan Coffey referred to as a big "clump" of budget-changing amendments before it and it seemed clear they wouldn't be able to consider all of them.

Assembly members Sheila Selkregg and Bill Starr said delaying action and reopening the hearing would ensure that the public gets a chance to hear what changes are proposed and the reasons members are voting for or against them.

The Assembly also has a capital spending budget and budgets for city utilities waiting for action.

The $421 million operating budget -- the part of city spending paid for by property taxes and that supports most services for citizens, including police, fire, parks, libraries and so on -- is a point of contention between Sullivan and a six-vote Assembly majority.

There was some reason to think the two sides are getting closer together, however. Coffey served as a go-between Tuesday between Sullivan's eighth-floor city hall office and a few Assembly members who want to add some spending back into Sullivan's budget.

Tuesday night's budget deliberations got off the ground with a rancorous argument sparked by an Assembly move to strike Sullivan's plan to save about $12.5 million next year by pushing back payments on some outstanding city bond debt.

Members who voted against Sullivan's plan likened it to using one credit card to pay the debt owed on another, saying it would just delay and ultimately increase what the city eventually has to pay.

In the end, a six-member Assembly majority voted to strike Sullivan's plan.

Sullivan blasted the six members for interfering in his budget strategy. He blamed them for passing a budget last year without enough revenues to pay for it, and for passing long-term labor contracts that the new mayor says will burden the city with heavy labor costs for years to come.

"You created a problem," Sullivan said. "We're trying to solve it ...

"You dramatically increased (expenses) in a time of declining revenues."

Assemblyman Mike Gutierrez, however, said Sullivan is stretching things by insisting Anchorage is in a crisis mode now.

"To cry 'crisis' when the proposed budget is $10 million under the cap is disingenous," Gutierrez said.

Assemblywoman Harriet Drummond moved to delete Sullivan's refunding plan. She said it "an unacceptable way to handle debt ... it only pushes it off into the future ... and is going to cost us more."

After that emotional, sometimes angry initial dip into the budget, the Assembly set off on what was expected to be a lengthy, time-consuming debate on a series of proposed changes to Sullivan's budget plan. The Assembly faced a charter-imposed midnight curfew on Assembly business, and Ossiander said failing to get a final vote might mean postponing action until next month.

The first amendments targeted fire department positions that Sullivan proposed eliminating.

An attempt by Assemblywoman Elvi Gray-Jackson to add about $119,000 for a fire investigator job failed, and Gray-Jackson then offered a second motion to add about $120,000 for a fire inspector. She and others said the inspector would generate about $80,000 in revenues based on fees charged for fire inspections.

The second fire department addition passed 6-5, with Gutierrez, Selkregg, Patrick Flynn, Matt Claman and Drummond joining Gray-Jackson. Coffey, Starr, Chris Birch, Ossiander and Jennifer Johnston opposed.

Sullivan has said he may veto changes if he disagrees with them strongly enough. Because an eight-vote supermajority is required to overturn a veto, Sullivan appears to still have a strong hand in directing the course of city spending next year, regardless of what a six-vote Assembly majority elects to add.

Gray-Jackson also wanted to add $600,000 to keep branch libraries open longer. That amendment passed 6-5, with the same six-vote majority behind it.

Gray-Jackson also moved to eliminate a fare increase for People Mover bus riders. Selkregg said the financial crisis Sullivan talks about affects all Anchorage, "the working poor" as well as property owners. Raising transportation costs for people who depend on the bus to get to work isn't a good idea, she said.

"A lot of people depend on those buses to get to one or more of their jobs," Gutierrez said. "It behooves the municipality to make it easier for someone to hold a job."

The move to eliminate the fare increase passed by a stronger 9-2 vote, with Starr and Birch opposed.

Contact reporter Don Hunter at dhunter@adn.com or 257-4349.

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