The council is still facing a budget gap of around £5million – despite extra cash being pledged by the Scottish Government.
Finance secretary Kate Forbes last week announced an extra £120m will be dished out to local authorities as part of this year’s budget settlement.
But both SNP and Labour councillors warn this will only shave around £2m off the original estimated budget gap of £7m, which will have to be closed in March.
Labour leader Martin Rooney said the cash only replaces money taken away from the council when the government slashed funds to tackle the education attainment gap.
He warned residents face “inflation-busting” council tax rises – however the SNP group leader pledged this will not happen.
Councillor Rooney said: “This is just another disappointing SNP budget from the Scottish Government for West Dunbartonshire Council.
“Its always too little, too late. We asked for extra help but they reduced our funding more than they needed to.
“The funding from the Scottish Government does not provide the necessary funds for our cash-strapped councils and is continuing the trend of slashing local authority resources year on year.
“Giving us back some of our withheld cash doesn’t prevent the reality that we are still faced with a huge budget gap and the only way to address this is through cuts to services and inflation-busting council tax increases.
“West Dunbartonshire has faced a decade of underfunding under the SNP.
“The annual Scottish Government pantomime of cutting much more than they need from councils forcing COSLA to spend time and energy trying to get some of their money back.
“The £120m doesn’t hide the fact that Scottish councils are grossly underfunded by the SNP Scottish Government.
“The National Insurance contributions and the council tax reduction scheme and the cut in the funding for early learning and childcare will be felt in 2023 budget.”
Council leader Jonathan McColl said residents do not have to worry about “inflation busting” council tax rises.
He said: “While the £120m is very welcome, it is a one-off fund, which we can use to partially close the budget gap for this year, delaying some pain to the following financial year; and we’re talking about a small sum in the grand scheme of this, circa £1m-£2m off of a £7m+ gap.
“Through COSLA we are still working on getting further flexibility around previously announced funds and seeking further funding for staff pay and National Insurance rises.
“Local government needs the support of all parties in the Scottish Parliament, and we need sensible suggestions that are workable, and do not hurt the economy or our citizens.
“While much of what Labour is asking for in parliament is laudable, they have not come up with a feasible means of funding the £12billion of commitments; raising income tax rates to eye watering levels is not sustainable even in the short term and will only push more families into poverty and increase the need for foodbanks, which I for one believe is completely unacceptable. With the cost of living rising at alarming rates, the SNP have our minds focussed on avoiding adding to this pressure on people’s incomes.”
