East Ayrshire Council Tax 4.9% rise

COUNCIL tax bills in East Ayrshire will increase of 4.9% for the coming year.
For 2005-6, the council has set a budget of £278m an increase in overall spending of £10.5m from last year.
the local authority incurred a £6m deficit this year and SNP councillors are demanding the public be told what cuts they will face to fund this.
The council had a duty to the public to make sure that they got the most out of every penny that was spent said Council leader Drew McIntyre.
“Funding has been earmarked for a number of new initiatives, including making sure teachers are properly supported, trained and rewarded and ensuring each child is encouraged to reach their potential. The most vulnerable in our communities must be protected and cared for, youth crime and anti-social behaviour has to be addressed, essential improvements must be made to our schools, roads and flood defences, and environmental issues like litter and dog fouling have to be tackled.”
The proposed revenue budget takes account of the council’s capital investment over the next three years, including flood prevention, upgrading schools and a CCTV and risk management centre.
This is in addition to the schools’ PPP project investment of around £60m, with work due to commence later this year.
Councillor McIntyre called for the Scottish Executive to make available additional funding to councils similar to that provided in England to control futurecouncil tax rises.
SNP Councillor Douglas Reid said it had not been made clear what reductions would be made with the result that the public hadn’t responded to the Labour administration’s budget consultation.
“Labour may boast that they only received one adverse complaint, but they only received one comment from the public — full stop! But people had plenty to say when their local community centres and libraries closed, school crossing patrols were removed and parking charges hiked.
The Labour administration drops these little bombshells throughout the year, hoping the public won’t notice. You don’t need to be clairvoyant to believe that the £6m shortfall will be met by targeting non-statutory leisure, community and cultural services, as well as the burden of increased service charges. However, we will probably not know from the Labour Party what these unpalatable cuts will be until the General Election.” Politics, politics !