Tonight Liverpool City Council held its most important meeting of the year as it set the city's budget for the next financial year.
A tense, eventful and at times angry meeting at the town hall saw the council sign off on a huge raft of budget cuts and a new Council Tax rise for residents. The meeting also saw continued fall-out from the ECHO's parking fines investigation with one member named in that confirming he will not be standing again and an angry confrontation involving the Lord Mayor.
Here's what we learned on a big night in the town hall.
Council Tax rise
Labour's budget plan, which was approved by a vote tonight, included a maximum Council Tax increase of 4.99%. This is the most that a council can increase the tax on residents without a public vote.
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Around 60% of properties in Liverpool are classed as Band A properties for Council Tax. This is the lowest band in terms of Council Tax charges. An increase of 4.99% on a Band A property will equate to an additional £61.72 per year - or £1.19 per week - on people's bills. For a Band B property, it would equate to £72.01 per year or £1.38 per week. You can find out what band your property is in here.
These calculations are before other additional charges have been added for the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
£50m of cuts
The budget that was approved by the Labour was of course the main item on the agenda tonight and it prompted plenty of debate. Originally the council had put forward proposals for around £73m of cuts, which included some painful reductions or removals of services for some of the most vulnerable people in the city.
Labour's final budget managed to remove many of these more painful cuts, but opposition parties felt there were still too many cuts within the £49m of savings. Much of the feisty debate focussed on a reduction to neighbourhood funds.
Despite a fiery debate, Labour's votes carried the budget plan through and it was approved.
Opposition join forces
While opposition parties will not have expected to have won out with a vote against the Labour majority tonight, there was a very significant move made by some of those on the opposing benches. The Greens, the Liberals and the Community Independents all put a joint budget motion forward against Labour's plans.
While that joint effort was defeated tonight, it could sow the seeds of greater collaboration between the opposition parties - including a potential electoral pact in May.
Parking tickets fall-out
Tonight's meeting was the first full council meeting since the revelations of the ECHO's parking fines investigation came to light. Our report - which highlighted how a number of Labour councillors had parking fines scrapped through the back door by officers - was a dominant theme throughout proceedings.
There were multiple mentions of the scandal and at one point the Liberal Democrats all held up giant posters of parking fines bearing the message "one rule for Labour, another rule for you."
Councillor not happy to be going
Of course the biggest impact of our investigation involves the futures of some of those named in it. Former deputy mayor Cllr Ann O'Byrne - who had the most tickets cancelled - has already announced she will quit the council in May and she will be joined by former cabinet member Barry Kushner.
Cllr Kushner, the current chair of the council's finance committee, had appealed the decision by Labour to block him standing again in the wake of the investigation, but tonight confirmed he will step down in May.
He made clear he was not doing this through choice and took a swipe at the Labour Party, who he said had not allowed him proper representation and had arranged his appeal hearing to clash with tonight's meeting.
Councillors standing down
Cllrs O'Byrne and Kushner are not the only elected members for whom tonight was the last full council meeting. The town hall heard that a total of 18 current councillors will be retiring from the chamber when May's elections come around.
These include Green members Lawrence Brown, Stephanie Pitchers and Anna Key, Lib Dem Barbara Mace, Independent Sarah Morton, Labour councillors Tony Concepcion, Ros Gladden, Calvin Smeda, Carol Sung, Pam Thomas, Pauline Walton, Sue Walker, Abdul Qadir, Helen Thompson and Clare McIntyre. Current Lord Mayor and Labour councillor Roy Gladden will also be retiring and received warm tributes from across the political divides.
And another dramatically quits Labour
In another dramatic moment tonight, City centre councillor Maria Toolan announced on twitter that she was quitting the Labour Party and will be sitting and standing as an independent.
In a stinging attack on the Liverpool Labour group she said: "The last four years as a member of the Liverpool Labour group has served as a wake-up call as I have experienced and witnessed the lowest and most dishonest that politics has to offer. It has been traumatic. Life within Labour has most definitely damaged my health and left my faith and trust in the party - both as a member and as a woman - in tatters."
Lord Mayor gets angry
It might have been his last meeting in the chair and his last ever full council meeting altogether but that didn't stop Cllr Gladden getting into an almighty ding dong. He was outraged to be accused by Lib Dem Cllr Richard Clein of not being apolitical in his management of the meeting and rose to demand the comment was withdrawn. After a tense stand-off that seemed to last for hours, Cllr Clein did withdraw the remarks.
Another spiky moment saw the Lord Mayor tell Cllr Nick Small to "sit down and shut up", comments he later apologised for.
A new leader arises
Another figure to leave the political stage after tonight's budget meeting is Mayor Joanne Anderson, who will depart from the council altogether after May's elections. Liverpool is moving from a mayoral model back to a leader and council model and the current leader is not seeking election. She has been replaced as Labour group leader by Kensington councillor Liam Robinson and he announced himself tonight with a strong speech on behalf of the group.
Cllr Robinson also paid tribute to Mayor Anderson who he said was "owed a debt of gratitude" by the city for stepping into the role under very difficult circumstances.
And a new chief executive to boot
If Cllr Robinson becomes the new leader of the council in May he will be working with a new permanent chief executive. Tonight's meeting say Mayor Anderson announce that current Cheshire West and Chester chief executive Andrew Lewis will be making the short journey to Liverpool to become the city's new top officer in the summer.
Game on for elections
Tonight's meeting definitely set the ball rolling for a feisty and fiery election period. There will be no more major meetings before May's votes and the mood in the chamber tonight made it clear we will be in for a spicy campaign all round as the city prepares for all out votes in May.
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