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Three Scottish councils to maintain tax freeze | Three Scottish councils to maintain tax freeze |
(about 17 hours later) | |
Three Labour-run councils in Scotland have voluntarily frozen the basic rate of council tax. | |
South Lanarkshire confirmed on Thursday that it would not be increasing most bills, despite the ability to raise them by up to 3%. | |
Inverclyde and Renfrewshire councils followed suit after votes of their own. | |
However, a quarter of households will see their bills increase regardless after MSPs backed changes to the upper four bands of council tax. | |
The authorities argue they are helping family budgets, but the move could leave them open to criticism from anti-austerity campaigners. | |
BBC Scotland's local government correspondent Jamie McIvor said any council which froze the council tax could find it hard to attack the Scottish government over the level of council funding. | BBC Scotland's local government correspondent Jamie McIvor said any council which froze the council tax could find it hard to attack the Scottish government over the level of council funding. |
However, local authorities may believe the move will prove popular locally or demonstrate efficiency, ahead of elections in May. | |
Angus Council, which is run by the SNP, voted to raise basic council tax by 3% which will result in 2017/18 Band D going up to £1,104. | |
Glasgow City Council, Fife Council and Highland Council have also announced they will raise bills by 3%. | |
Fife Council said its increase would raise £4.4m towards £25m of savings which had been identified, while outlining additional investment of £5.4m in local facilities and services. | |
There is speculation that Aberdeen City Council will opt for a freeze in the basic rate of council tax when it sets its budget next week. | |
The Scottish government is allowing councils to raise the basic rate of council tax by up to 3% without any penalty for the first time since 2007. | |
However, around a quarter of households will pay more regardless of their local council's decisions. | |
Bills for properties in Bands E to H will rise automatically from April through national changes to the way council tax is calculated which have been made by the Scottish government. | |
BBC analysis shows this will affect 25% of properties in South Lanarkshire, 18% in Inverclyde and 24% in Renfrewshire, despite the freeze in the basic rate. | |
By Thursday, 11 councils had opted to put up the basic rate of council tax by 3%, costing a typical billpayer £3 to 4 a month. | |
Aberdeenshire Council, which has an SNP-led coalition in administration, opted for a smaller rise of 2.5%. |