The leader of Scotland's largest local authority has called for an end to the council tax freeze.
Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, told Finance Secretary John Swinney that he needs the option of raising the levy to offset "brutal" cuts. The squeeze on public finance has already prompted concern that councils could be hit if the NHS is spared from cuts.
Mr Matheson told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "Over the next three years, Glasgow is looking at having to save an estimated £180million from our budget. To give you a sense of what that means, that is the total annual revenue cost for roads, lighting, cleansing, parks and sports facilities and community halls within the city. So it's unprecedented."
Mr Matheson, who is the first leader to propose scrapping the flagship policy, added: "Some of the choices that we are facing will have a pretty brutal impact on the communities that we serve, all of the households in Glasgow."
The city introduced a council tax freeze two years before the SNP introduced it across the country. As part of the concordat between councils and the Scottish Government, authorities are rewarded financially for maintaining the freeze.
If he gets his way, Mr Matheson still wants a share of the additional £70million given by the Government. He continued: "I think it would be vindictive of the Scottish Government to cut that from local governments' budgets, given that councillors are only trying to protect frontline services."
He added: "I'm calling for the option of being able to raise council tax in order to offset some of the more brutal cuts that we will have to make. But we will still be reducing staff by around 15%, we will be expecting pay restraint, councillors pay for example is frozen for the next two years.
"We are looking at a two-thirds reduction in our number of office spaces, we're stripping out middle management. We're looking for great efficiencies but we need to be able to have the option of comparing the impact of increasing the council tax with some of the more brutal options we face."
Options include boosting charges for care for the elderly, cancelling disabled play schemes and reducing the number of support teachers. A 3% council tax increase - which he used as an example for Glasgow - would pay for an extra 200 teachers in the city.
Pat Watters, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), backed Mr Matheson's call, adding: "I think he is absolutely right. It's something we have discussed."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The council tax freeze provides support for hard-pressed families during difficult times for household finances - and at a time when councils have received an increasing share of the resources available to the Scottish Government.
"We will listen to views on how to deal with Westminster spending cuts as we consider the report of the Independent Budget Review, and feedback from around Scotland."
