Shock as over 10 500 Dundee households could face large council tax increase

A report going before Dundee City Council’s City Governance Committee next Monday lays bare the potential impact on Dundee households of SNP Scottish Government proposals to hike council tax for households in bands E to H. 10 587 households would see their council tax hiked by between 7.5% and 22.5%.  

Dundee’s Liberal Democrat Group has made clear it will oppose this SNP proposal to hike council tax for these households saying the SNP proposals are “shocking” and will hammer households with a storm of council tax rises in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

Broughty Ferry councillor Craig Duncan said :

“We are shocked at how out of touch these SNP Scottish Government proposals are at this difficult time for households. We will oppose the council’s proposed response to the consultation which supports the tax hike. Reports coming to committee have already been seen by the SNP group and allowed to progress to committee before we as opposition councillors ever see the report, we can only assume the SNP Dundee City Council administration supports this huge hike in council tax for over 10 000 Dundee households. If that’s the case, the SNP group is totally out of touch with the public.”

“The report admits that this would take £2.36m out of Dundee council taxpayers’ pockets. My fear is that the Scottish Government will over time adjust revenue support grant downwards to reduce its support still further to councils. This means that over 10 500 Dundee council taxpayers would pay much more but get no better services. Services over the SNP’s time in government have been cut, cut and cut again.”

The proposed increases per household in Dundee would range from £146.48 a year for a Band E household to a whopping £819.39 for a Band H household.

Councillor Duncan’s group colleague, West End councillor Michael Crichton added :

“The SNP is planning on hammering households in Dundee with a storm of council tax rises during the worst cost of living crisis for generations.”

“The nationalists have been in government promising to abolish the council tax for 16 years – more than half the existence of the tax which Nicola Sturgeon said she “hated”. Now it appears they plan to embed council tax, extend the lifetime of the current unfair system and hit almost a quarter of households with a massive extra bill at the worst possible time.”

“These changes would see bills go up and services still cut. People would be paying more for less. It won’t offset the SNP/Green Government’s systematic underfunding of local government which has devastated essential local services.”

 “After years of the SNP eroding council budgets and the impact that this has had on our essential services it is clear that we need to ensure local authorities are properly funded, but this proposal is not the solution.”

“These tax hikes must be scrapped. The government should instead back Scottish Liberal Democrat plans that would deliver the power surge which councils need and end the underfunding of local government once and for all.”