Orkney councillors have said council tax in the county should be increased by 3%.
Officials recommended a rise of 7.7% but, at a special meeting of the policy and resources committee on Tuesday, councillors said increased costs of living and an upcoming hike in electricity bills had to be considered.
Councillor Steven Heddle put forth an amendment proposing the 3% increase.
He said he felt the mood of his fellow councillors was that they couldn’t accept the suggested above-inflation 7.7% rise.
Council tax freeze would not solve the problem
However, he also said a freeze wouldn’t solve any problems, either.
Councillor Heddle said: “A freeze would be storing up problems for the future, we’ve got to reflect the fact that we’re already in the situation where we’ve got, if not the lowest council tax, one of the lowest council taxes.
“It’s been a favourable situation, basically forever.
“I think the prudent way forward here would be to keep pace with inflation, to not come up with something that’s out of the ordinary.”
Mr Heddle explained in his amendment that this means the band D council tax level for the year will be set at £1,244.73.
His amendment was seconded by Leslie Manson.
He said the recommended increase would be “a slap in the face” to a public that is aware that if it wants services, it has to pay for them.
Councillor Manson said:Â “This is really all about what we do with the reserves and you have to ask yourself, what are the reserves for?
“They help us to springboard certain initiatives and so on, but one of the phrases you hear often is that the reserves are here for a rainy day.
‘You have to ask yourself, what are our reserves for?’
“It doesn’t matter how you look at this, a 7.7% increase is really unacceptable.
“The whole community has gone through a terrible couple of years and we’ve been seen to support our business community very well.”
Councillor Manson also said he believed the current situation wouldn’t last and Orkney would get better budget settlements from the Scottish Government in the future.
He also pointed to the council’s own money-raising plans as reasons to see a brighter financial future for the isles council.
This includes the money expected as a result of the ScotWind offshore wind projects.
With May’s council election nearing, the rise would hit the pockets of voters just before they go to the polls.
Councillor David Dawson said people were “furious” with the idea of a 7.7% increase.
He said he’d had more representation in the last 72-hours than he’d seen on any issue for a long time.
Orkney council trying to balance books after disappointment with budget settlement
A council tax rise of 3% wasn’t the only option discussed. Councillor Rob Crichton put forward a 5% increase and Graham Sinclair suggested a 4% increase.
However, these both fell to Mr Heddle’s 3%.
The backdrop to this is that Orkney council has to balance its books. There has been disappointment with the one-off annual budget settlement from the Scottish Government of £83.9million for the financial year.
Orkney council leaders have claimed this is the worst settlement for a council in Scotland
The decisions adopted at the meeting will now go to full council to be ratified.