Moray Council approves council tax rises in budget for this year
Moray households could be paying £400 more in council tax in three years time, under plans agreed today.
Councillors today agreed Moray Council’s budget for the coming year, including a 10 per cent rise in council tax.
However, also agreed were “indicative” rises of ten per cent and six per cent for the next two years.
That means a Band D property will face a 28 per cent in council tax in 2027 compared to last year, taking the bill from £1431 last year to £1835.
Moray Council had already agreed £5.5 million of cuts for the coming year, but approved an extra £2 million of savings at today’s Full Council meeting.
Council Leader, Councillor Kathleen Robertson (Forres, Conservative), said the administration had “no alternative” but to propose the tax hikes, given the “bleak” financial outlook facing councils.
However, she described the fact that a balanced budget had been drawn up without relying on cash reserves as a “major success”.
Speaking ahead of today’s meeting, she said she hoped that council tax rises in future years would not be as severe as is currently planned.
Alternative proposals from the council’s SNP and Labour groups were also considered at the meeting.
Councillors backed the administration budget against the SNP option by 17 votes to eight, with one abstention.
The vote came after Labour group leader Councillor Sandy Keith (Elgin City North, Labour), agreed to withdraw his group’s amendment after the administration adopted plans for £40,000 of road safety improvements.
In their amendment, the SNP proposed a smaller 9.7 per cent increase in council tax, along with creating a £60,000 poverty fund for children and families and reintroducing a sports and recreation fund for young people for £27.
Also included, were plans to scrap a planned increase in the cost of a FitLife membership for single-parent families at £7000.
The measure would be funded by tightening the rules about how vacant roles are filled.
Measures in Labour’s budget that were not adopted by the administration included a deep-clean of Elgin High Street to help it “bounce back” after the St Giles Centre closed.
Also withdrawn were efforts to reverse a £2 increase in the cost of garden waste bins and realigning the kerb at the junction between Lesmurdie Road and Lossiemouth Road in Elgin.
However, while several councillors praised the “collegiate” attitude to setting the budget, opinions were divided about why a stark rise in council tax was necessary.
Cllr Robertson said Moray Council would have pursued a 10 per cent tax rise last year, had the Scottish Government not announced a council tax freeze.
The UK Government’s increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions had imposed around £4 million of extra financial pressure, she argued.
Additional funding from the Scottish Government had not helped to close the a £12.7 million gap in funding, Cllr Robertson added, claiming that most of the £14.8 million was absorbed by policies from Holyrood.
However, SNP group leader Councillor Scott Lawrence (Forres, Conservative) argued that the council tax rise and cuts to services were down to “15 years of Westminster austerity”.
Describing the rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions as a “poor decision”, he argued that the UK government was at fault for large increases in council tax in Local Authorities across the UK.
“This is not a Moray issue, it is an issue with being part of the United Kingdom.”
Councillor Sandy Keith, however, criticised the “inadequate” funding provided by the Scottish Government.
Moray had been “underfunded to the tune of £16 million,” he added.
“It is the Scottish Government that has determined this budget, not the Council.”
The Elgin councillor also argued that the SNP’s plan to reduce the planned council tax rise by 0.3 per cent were inconsequential.
Limiting the tax rise, he added, would save a Band D household just £4.29 a year - or just over 1p a day.
