Households could pay up to £91 more in council taxes.

Tories say taxpayers will suffer but SNP says Scots are better off than English

Households will pay up to £91 more in council tax through hikes expected to be confirmed this week.

The Courier has published an analysis of likely bill increases for homes in Tayside and Fife from an across the board 3% rise in the levy.

The bill burden comes as Holyrood rubber-stamped increases in income tax yesterday for those earning more than £33,000.

It means a family living in a band D home in Dundee with two parents earning £35,000 will be £217 worse off in 2018-19.

The tax rises will punish hard-working families and harm the economy, according to the Scottish Conservatives.

However, ministers say the increases will help protect public services from Tory austerity.

The smallest council tax rise in the area is £22.08 for a band A home in Angus, with the largest of £91.21 coming for band H properties in Dundee. The average increase for a band D household in Courier Country is £35.08.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has made clear he expects local authorities to implement the 3% maximum increase in council tax.

Angus has already hiked it by 3%. Dundee, Fife and Perth and Kinross will make final decisions tomorrow.

The table below shows projected increases to household bills should the 3% hike be confirmed by those councils.

Councils have to make cuts worth millions of pounds in their 2018-19 budgets because funding is not keeping pace with increasing demand for services, higher wages and inflation.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said taxpayers will suffer from the SNP’S decision to under-fund councils.

“Local authorities are struggling to budget for basic public services as a result and the general increases in council tax are a symptom of that struggle,” he said. “Even Snp-run councils will deliver less to hard-working council taxpayers, for more.

“This will not be lost on those who also face paying more income tax than anywhere else in the UK.”

However, the SNP says Scottish households are getting a better deal than their English counterparts.

Quoting figures from independent researchers at Holyrood, the party said an average band D household will pay £478 a year less in Scotland than their English counterparts.

Ash Denham, the SNP MSP, said: “Not only are council tax bills lower than they are in England, but the majority of income tax payers will also pay less than they would if they lived elsewhere in the UK.”

gmcpherson@thecourier.co.uk

Picture: Kris Miller. Households in Dundee face council tax rises whatever band their property is in.