Raiding reserves and funding future services

On Wednesday, March 1 councillors set Perth and Kinross Council’s mammoth £449 million revenue budget.

As well as council tax, money to fund the budget will come from a variety of sources including funding packages and raiding the council’s reserves.

Here is a breakdown of how the approved SNP budget will be sourced (rounded-up to the nearest hundred thousand):

Total revenue funding - £318 million;

Council Tax Second Home/ Long Term Empty Properties - £1.3m;

Capital Grants - £1.6m;

Net Contribution from Reserves included in the provisional budget - £6.6m;

Contribution from Service Concession Scheme - £17m;

Contribution from Decants Reserves - £700,000;

Contribution from Council Tax Second Homes Reserves - £35,000;

Contribution from PH20 Reserves - £150,000;

Contribution from Covid- 19 Reserves - £175,000;

Contribution from Unearmarked Reserves - £1.1m; This amounts to £347m. A further £ 102m will be collected through council tax.

Council tax will increase by 3.9 per cent in April.

It is on track to be the lowest percentage increase in Scotland but is not the lowest council tax rate.

As of April 1, a Band D property will pay £1,403.69 – an increase of £52.69 from £1,351.00.

Orkney Council made the headlines last week when it agreed a whopping 10 per cent council tax increase.

However, a Band D property there will pay £1369 from April 1 - less than in Perth and Kinross.

Cllr Grant Laing incorporated a few adjustments to the SNP budget from other political groups.

Among the raft of adjustments were: £ 80,000 to allow Perth Theatre and Concert Hall to bring forward the Perth Box Office scheme; £ 100,000 to provide further to support parents and families in poverty; £50,000 on a recurring basis to remove breakfast club charges, and £50,000 on a non-recurring basis towards translation, tools and equipment.