St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter has vetoed five line-items in the budget passed by the City Council last week, but it's not clear if those vetoes will stand after council members voted to override them Thursday.

Carter and Council President Mitra Jalali disagree on when the city budget is made final, a minor distinction that could have significant implications for filling city jobs, funding police overtime and renovating City Council offices.

Carter argues the council missed Wednesday's deadline set by the city charter to finalize the budget, so his vetoes are the final word. He said his administration will start "operationalizing" the spending plan.

But Jalali said she thinks the council beat the deadline by passing a budget Dec. 11. And she said St. Paul has until Dec. 30 to deliver a budget to the state, so the council's overrides will stand.

Earlier this month, Carter strongly opposed the 5.9% property tax levy increase that the council set last week; he wanted a steeper hike. The council's budget also contains much less funding for police overtime than the mayor wanted and directs his administration to leave several vacant jobs unfilled.

Carter used his line-item veto authority to cut $2.3 million from the council's budget, arguing its balance sheet relied on impossible-to-realize savings, including a major cut to police overtime.

He delivered the line-item vetoes to the council Wednesday evening after its regular meeting adjourned. The biggest cut was $1.8 million for a renovation of the council offices. Carter characterized the upgrades as "new carpets and drapes," while Jalali said during Thursday's meeting that the work was focused on making the offices more accessible to people with disabilities.

Jalali had worked with Carter on a compromise budget, which the council rejected last week. But this week, she said the mayor had given the council no indication that he intended to veto any part of the spending plan.

Asked how his vocal opposition to the council's budget and vetoes would affect the working relationship with the council, Carter said, "We should be all right."