Glasgow City Council announce council tax will increase to its highest in 20 years
By Josh Murphy
Glasgow City Council has agreed a deal to increase council tax by 7.5% in new budget announcement. The tax rise has sparked concerns among residents, with many feeling that the burden of higher costs during a challenging economic time will be too much to deal with.
The 7.5% rise in tax will see band D households paying over £1,600 a year on council tax. The tax increases come as an effort to tackle the city’s recent budgetary shortcomings, with the council announcing a £38 million overspend.
The move to increase council tax follows a pattern seen across many local authorities in Scotland, due to rising inflation and operational costs for public services as well as the constantly rising costs of energy. Glasgow City Council has the lowest announced council tax increase with North Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders councils voting for 10% increases, Fife going for 8.2% and councillors in Edinburgh backing an 8% hike.
Council tax is a crucial revenue stream for local authorities, holding one of the highest contributions to the funding of public services like Schools, Libraries and waste collection.
However, Glasgow’s decision to raise taxes has sparked mixed reactions across the city, with both residents and local leaders voicing their concerns.
City treasurer Ricky Bell, SNP, said “This is a budget that responds to the priorities of Glaswegians, investing in frontline staff within essential service, in the fabric of our communities and in support for families and households.”
He added: “These are extremely challenging financial times for public services, but I am delighted that our settlement from the Scottish Government will allow us to make significant investments in these areas.”
The plans announced in the budget also included 200 extra jobs for cleaning staff, the expansion of free school meals to every primary school pupil in Scotland and an £8 million point pledge to address climate emergency. With renewable energy funding, flood prevention and other green initiatives.
A £9.5 million productive use fund to buy and transform empty properties and land is expected as well as, an additional £4 million on top of that likely to be awarded to the city’s health and social care partnership. With hopes to increase the age of free public transport for YoungScot card holders from 21 to 23.
When asked about the new budget, Council leader Susan Aitken said: ‘This budget round comes after more than a decade of austerity, where public services have been starved of sufficient resources to even keep pace with need and demand.
“Nobody can walk back that kind of impact overnight, or even over one year – but this budget makes substantial progress in starting to address some of Glasgow’s challenges and meeting the aspirations of a changing, modern city.
“For me, being able to expand free school meal provision is a great example.
She added: “Our position is far from perfect – things are still very difficult – but this is the first time in a long time that we have had the headroom to think not just about the least worst decision, but giving people more of what they value.”
