Bin collections axed and council tax up in Glasgow
COUNCIL tax in Glasgow will go up by three per cent from April and bin collections will be scaled back as part of the SNP’S council budget plans.
The council faces a £41 million spending gap and city treasurer
Allan Gow has revealed the budget he plans to put forward.
It includes a range of savings, extra charges and also identifies a new investment strategy for community facilities.
However, he said: “No libraries, no swimming pools, no community facilities will be closing. If we close something, we will open a new facility.”
The plans, to be presented to the council tomorrow, will also see bins collected less frequently for thousands of homes.
There will be an increase in council car park charges and charges for hall hires and an £2.50 extra environmental charge on ticket prices for concerts held in the city’s parks like TRNSMT and Summer Sessions.
The council tax hike is lower than the amount the council is allowed to increase the charge by.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay increased the cap to 4.79% but the Mr Gow said he didn’t want to use that power.
It will increase a Band C property by £34 a year.
Mr Gow said he doesn’t want to impose the full increase available to him.
He said: “We don’t think it is required at this stage. Glasgow council tax has been too high for too long. I think a 4.79% increase is too high and too many people would struggle to pay it.”
The increase will bring in an extra £6.6m in the next year.
The bin collection changes are for properties with a main front door and collections will move from every two weeks to every three weeks.
The council thinks that many bins are being collected half empty making the collections service inefficient.
Council car park charges will go up by an average of 40p per hour and changes approved last year of on street parking will raise almost half a million pounds.
The council is using £13m from its reserves Mr Gow said: “We are getting more money in capital and revenue from the Scottish Government.
“The key pressure points for us are pay and inflation pressures and the equal pay settlement.”