A council tax rise will be announced in Dumfries and Galloway next week – after it was confirmed that the authority is facing a budget shortfall of more than
£5million.
Cuts to services are also likely after officers admitted that “very difficult decisions” will have to be made when setting the budget on Tuesday.
The various political groups on Dumfries and Galloway Council have a deadline of today to submit their final budget proposals which will be voted on.
Council leader Elaine Murray said: “Council tax rises and savings are inevitable. However, the administration’s budget seeks to limit these as far as possible.”
Gillian Ross, the council’s finance and accounting manager, laid bare the dire financial situation in a report to be tabled at the upcoming budget setting meeting.
She explained that savings will have to be made and extra income generated through taxation to plug a projected funding gap of £5.065m.
The council report states: “At present the band D council tax in Dumfries and Galloway of £1,223 is seven per cent below the national average. Having a council tax below the national average effectively reduces the funding available to support council services in Dumfries and Galloway by £5.4m per annum.
“Having a council tax level below the national average has also in recent years resulted in the council receiving reduced shares of national funding allocations where these have been linked to council tax income levels.
“Each one per cent increase in the council tax level will generate additional funding of around £775,000 per annum to support the provision of council services on a recurring basis.” Two years ago, the council faced a funding gap of £10.9m, which was brought down to £5.2m through various cuts.
A tax hike of 4.84 per cent was then implemented to help balance the books.
For 2022/23, it was initially feared that the council faced an £11.7m budget shortfall. However, some savings were identified – and the Scottish Government agreed to stump up around £3.4m more.
A letter of complaint signed by every council leader in Scotland was sent to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon by the the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.
This prompted negotiations where the Scottish Government agreed to hand over a further £120m to be split among the country’s 32 local authorities.
And she added: “The government hasn’t provided funding for
pay increases, inflation or the National Insurance increases – which were passed on to the Scottish Government by the UK
Government – although it did so for the NHS.”
