ORANGE City councillors will vote next week on a proposal to reduce their numbers.
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Councillor Dave Hackett is lodging a notice of motion to reduce the number of councillors from 14 to nine.
If Cr Hackett gets council support the existing 14 would stay on but at the next election in September 2008, only nine spots would be up for grabs.
Of the 152 councils in NSW only 10 have more councillors than Orange and eight of those are highly populated Sydney suburbs, including Blacktown, Parramatta, Sutherland and Campbelltown.
Cr Hackett said a reduction in councillor numbers would save ratepayers more than $80,000 a year.
He said other similarly populated councils had fewer councillors and it had not caused any problems.
Cr Hackett said the proposal for nine councillors, if supported by other councillors, would be open to public comment for a month.
Cr Jason Hamling said cutting councillors would not necessarily save money because those left behind would need to spend more time on council business.
He said a large reduction in councillors would limit the effectiveness of the committee system, which was an important way for the community to take part in council business.
Cr Hamling said just because Bathurst and Dubbo had fewer councillors did not mean Orange should follow.
"I am happy for the number to go down to 11. But we live in Orange; we don't live in Bathurst," he said.
In June, the Local Government Minister Tony Kelly, announced new laws would be introduced into Parliament enabling councils to voluntarily reduce their councillor numbers.
Mr Kelly said of the 152 councils in NSW, 136 or nearly 90 per cent, have nine or more councillors.
In a reshuffle last week Kerry Hickey was named as the new Local Government Minister.
