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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Moray Council to maintain council tax freeze and not put up bills | Moray Council to maintain council tax freeze and not put up bills |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Moray Council has dropped plans to put up council tax by 18% and will now maintain the freeze on household bills. | Moray Council has dropped plans to put up council tax by 18% and will now maintain the freeze on household bills. |
| The authority's ruling administration initially said the move was necessary to protect frontline services. | The authority's ruling administration initially said the move was necessary to protect frontline services. |
| However, council leader Stewart Cree said the amount it could raise would be "all but wiped out by Scottish government penalties". | However, council leader Stewart Cree said the amount it could raise would be "all but wiped out by Scottish government penalties". |
| All of Scotland's 32 councils are in the process of agreeing their budgets for 2016/17. | All of Scotland's 32 councils are in the process of agreeing their budgets for 2016/17. |
| Moray Council, which has an independent/Conservative administration, needs to cut spending by £11.9m in the next financial year. | |
| Councillors proposed in the middle of last month that council tax bills could rise by as much as 18% which would have seen an increase for Band D properties of £204 a year. | Councillors proposed in the middle of last month that council tax bills could rise by as much as 18% which would have seen an increase for Band D properties of £204 a year. |
| 'Not sustainable' | |
| But that move would have resulted in the government withholding £1.1m which would have been allocated to the Moray to offset the freeze, which has been in place across Scotland since 2007. | But that move would have resulted in the government withholding £1.1m which would have been allocated to the Moray to offset the freeze, which has been in place across Scotland since 2007. |
| Council leader Mr Cree said: "We simply cannot proceed with the proposal as the extra penalties it would now attract would have a devastating effect on the services people in Moray tell us they want protected. | |
| "So to make ends meet this year the administration have decided to defer certain works and spending, and to draw the remaining shortfall from reserves. | |
| "We have pledged not to cut services and make any redundancies, and we'll stick to that. | |
| "But this is for one year only - it is not sustainable." |