Council Tax rises by 3%

Friday 21 February 2020

Band D Council Tax payers in Inverclyde will see their bills go up by £38.79 a year, after local councillors agreed to increase the Council Tax for 2020/21 by 3%.

The 3% increase will raise £948,000 to pay for local services but falls significantly short of the maximum 4.84% rise allowed by the Scottish Government.

Inverclyde Council is heavily dependent on the Scottish Government for its funding. Inverclyde is set to get a £165m revenue grant from the Scottish Government this year.

However, much of this cash is ring fenced to deliver national priorities. When this is taken into account the grant settlement represents a like for like reduction in funding of £1.971m compared to 2019/20.

The council was expecting a drop of around £1m and has already built this amount into its budget calculations.

When the larger than expected reduction in the grant settlement is added to the existing funding gap, and further proposed adjustments and savings are taken off, the council needs to cover a £1.899m funding gap.

Legally, the council must set a budget which balances the books. Setting the Council Tax is a key part of that process.

To balance the budget councillors have to cover the £1.899m funding gap. The options are to: cut services, increase the Council Tax, take money from the reserves or use some combination of all three of these options.

Councillors will set the Revenue Budget on 12 March.

Page last updated: 24 February 2020