Budget warning shows there is a price to pay

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of the East Kilbride News.

That the report was expected did not make its content more palatable.

South Lanarkshire Council has unveiled its budget proposals for the new financial year with around £18 million needing to be trimmed.

Once some money is moved around and bits and pieces saved here and there within the local authority, that figure drops to £13m.

I’m sure we all agree that is a significant amount of money which will impact on services and folk’s pockets.

One of the options to councillors is to have another three per cent rise in council tax. But will residents, whose wages in some cases are not going up by that much, stomach another hike?

The responses we had in the streets and on social media were largely in favour of there not being another rise but there were individuals who said that a council tax increase was a price which had to be paid for public services.

This column has discussed the issue of tax rises and public services before and there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to linking the two.

If you went out today and asked people if they wanted good public services they would say yes but ask if they are prepared to pay extra for them and the answer is likely to be no.

There are people who can’t afford to pay more in bills. There are those just simply against stumping up extra.

The question public bodies have to ask themselves is are they spending every penny of the money they already receive wisely and well? It is only then that tax rises can be justified.

We the public, however, must acknowledge that services cost money and they have to be paid for.