THESE are the hardest of times for councillors, writes Louise Glen. They signed up to make things better for communities but find themselves having to make tough choices on a further round of spending cuts. There is no flexibility in that spending.
Overall, there is up to £40 million to be saved up to 2020, depending on the budget forecast and the settlement from the Scottish Government. The council tax may well make up 80 per cent of funding for the local authority but it falls short of what is required to deliver the services currently being provided.
The extra money to be collected by central government for higher council tax payments in certain bandings will not be available to the local authority directly.