Council tax and rent hikes agreed
Andrew Hirst
Elected representatives have agreed to increase council tax and housing rents by 4.5 per cent.
The decision was taken today (Wednesday) at a full meeting of the council.
New finance manager Paul Fraser said the council was facing a £30m funding gap – and was under scrutiny from the Accounts Commission to reduce its use of reserves.
The meeting heard 881 people responded to a survey on potential increases. And of these, 78% of respondents indicated that they would support a rise in council tax.
Officers had proposed only a three per cent increase in council rents. However, many members felt this was not enough to carry out essential housing repairs – which was more of a priority for council tenants.
Lerwick South member Cecil Smith proposed the motion, saying it was necessary as the council could not continue to make unsustainable draws on reserves.
Shetland Central councillor Ian Scott proposed an amendment to freeze both council tax and housing rents.
Mr Scott said the council had the money, pointing to the almost £400m in reserves it held.
Shetland North member Tom Morton seconded the amendment. He described the reserves as a rainy day fund adding that it was “raining buckets”.
Councillors voted 18 in favour of the motion, two in favour of the amendment and Shetland South member Alex Armitage abstained.
peter smith
Interesting to note that with a “£30m funding gap” and a desire not to “make unsustainable draw on reserves” there is no mention of following the lead of several councils (WI and Orkney included) in getting EV drivers to pay for charging their vehicles. Probably not going to raise a large amount of money, but the implication seems to be every penny counts.