Council tax increase plans scrapped in face of 'draconian' sanctions
Highland follows Moray in abandoning hike due to Scottish Government penalties.
Scottish local authorities have scrapped plans to raise council tax in the face of government penalties.
Moray Council said last month that it would be forced to introduce a tax hike to meet an £11m budget deficit.
It would have been the first local authority to do so since the Scottish Government introduced a freeze in 2007.
The council now believes the £5m a tax increase would have generated would be wiped out by government penalties.
Highland Council has also abandoned talks over a tax rise as a result of the sanctions, which Cosla branded "draconian".
The authority was considering a possible 5% increase in council tax but leader Margaret Davidson said this option "has been taken away from us" by the Scottish Government.
She said: "We have been informed, if we raise council tax, we will be fined not just the 3% we expected but also other sanctions will be applied around teacher numbers and funding for social care. Cumulatively, that would mean a fine of £18m. Hence we cannot responsibly raise council tax.
"In common with other local authorities across Scotland, we feel disappointed and powerless as a result of the Scottish Government's stance."
Moray Council had identified £1.9m worth of savings in addition to the £5m it expected to raise through council tax and planned to use £5m of its cash reserves to make up the rest of the deficit.
The move would have seen council tax bills rise by between £136 and £408 for Moray residents.
But the Scottish Government says its freeze saves the average Band D household £1200 a year.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "While the Scottish Government awaits final confirmation from Moray Council, the indication they will sign up to the council-tax freeze is welcome.
"The Scottish Government's funding proposals deliver a strong but challenging financial settlement for local government despite cuts to the central budget by the UK Government.
"It is a deal that will see an additional £250m invested in social care, it will help councils deliver the living wage giving 40,000 people a pay rise, it will freeze council tax for a ninth consecutive year and it protects the pupil-teacher ratio, helping improve attainment.
"Overall, as a percentage of local authorities' total estimated revenue expenditure in 2016-17, the reduction in local authority budgets is around 2%."