City hall's executive committee heard from more than 200 deputants during a marathon meeting that wrapped up early Tuesday morning.

The meeting lasted about 20 hours as the 13-member committee, chaired by Mayor Rob Ford, heard from people about proposed service cuts, which would affect everything from libraries and zoos to theatres and child care spaces, originally identified in a controversial core service review.

However, committee members voted to maintain snow-clearing standards, cut the budget for libraries by 10 per cent but to keep all branches open, and maintain a child-care subsidy, even though a $20-million reserve will run out in a few years.

Meanwhile, the city is exploring the possibility of handing over the Toronto Zoo's operations to a private entity. The zoo iteself won't be sold because most of the land is owned by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.

The city is also considering an offer from a community group that wants to take over Riverdale Farm to keep it open, and is still figuring out what to do with three city-run theatres and three city-run museums.

City council will hold a final vote later this month.

Of the 361 deputants who registered to speak at the non-stop meeting, 205 waited their turn. Each person was given two minutes to speak, plus one minute for questions.

Many expressed their displeasure about the proposed cuts, which have added a layer of controversy and unrest during Ford's first year as mayor.

Ford opened the meeting Monday at 9:30 a.m. by telling the packed room the core service review was needed to identify possible savings and efficiencies, and cuts to some services are required to avoid further financial struggles in the future.

Responding to his critics, Ford said he isn't prepared to close libraries to trim the budget.

By the time the meeting wrapped up at about 5:30 a.m., many deputants had dropped out.

The potential cuts, recommended by city manager Joe Pennachetti, are largely based on a core service review conducted by KPMG consultants. They amount to about $100 million in savings.

Ford ordered the review earlier this year to find ways to trim a $774-million budget shortfall.

This is the second marathon meeting over proposed service cuts.

A non-stop meeting in July lasted nearly 21 hours after 300 people signed up to sound off on the controversial core service review.

With a report from CP24's Cam Woolley