Orkney could see council tax rise by 15%

Councillors in Orkney have backed a 15% rise in council tax for the next financial year.

There was just one vote in difference between opting for an 11% rise and a 15% rise.

While a rise of 20% was also put forward by councillors David Dawson and Duncan Tullock, they were the only councillors to back this, with all the others deciding 15% was steep enough.

Options were discussed at a special meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources committee this morning.

Scotland

More councils confirm inflation-busting tax hikes of 10%

A nationwide freeze ends in April meaning local authorities can increase the levy by however much they like.

In making their decision, councillors repeatedly brought up the council’s long-term financial strategy.

Foremost of these was the need to gradually bring Orkney Islands Council’s level of council tax in line with the Scottish average.

They also repeatedly referenced the results of a public survey conducted ahead of this year’s council tax decision.

‘Survey result shows willingness to protect services with tax hike’

The results of that survey, the council said, showed that, of the 1,077 members of the community who responded, 47% said they’d be in favour of higher council tax increases to protect community services.

Councillors also spoke about having an improved position with the Scottish Government, in terms of this year’s budget settlement.

Last year, the isles council froze council tax after receiving additional funding from the Scottish Government at the last minute.

In the report put to the committee today, officers had recommended an 11% council tax rise.

Some spoke in favour of this smaller rise, with councillor Steven Heddle saying it was the “sweet spot” and “a no-brainer”.

However, councillor Kristopher Leask put forward an amendment, making the case for a 15% rise.

He won just enough support for his amendment, with 11 voting for 15% and 10 voting for the 11% rise.

Setting out his reasoning, Mr Leask said: “It moves us toward the council target.

“There’s a principled position in that we committed to that several years ago.

“The 11% will not progress us, in any substantial terms towards that.

“It also bakes the compounding and has long-lasting impacts – more so than the lower raises

‘15% rise is compromise among the councillors’

“It also matches public opinion, as far as I can see.

“I am yet to see a consultation response that we get 1,000 responses to and such wide uptake.

“People need to know that when they are engaging in that, in those numbers, it has to have merit and impact.

“The 15% is the suitable compromise between us in this room.”

Councillor Rachael King seconded Mr Leask’s amendment.

Earlier in the meeting she said the council has “lost a significant amount of funding” because of not being at a the Scottish average for council tax.

She said: “If we were to consider a 15% rise, in line with others in the country, we’re still going to be struggling to meet that average.”

“We’ve lost a lot of money, I think we lose money going forward.”

‘Higher rise is not pre-empting council tax freeze’

Some of the councillors, particularly Mr Heddle, saw a council tax hike of more than 11% as a “self-fulfilling prophecy” for the Scottish Government introducing a council tax freeze in the future.

Councillor King argued against this, saying the Scottish Government would recognise the council’s goal to match up with the average council tax in Scotland.

The committee also viewed a number of other reports related to the council’s budget for next year.

This included one which said the council should view drawing another £20million from the council’s reserves as a “planning assumption” for the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

The decision backed by councillors today still has to be ratified at a meeting of the full council.