| If, as seems likely, there is no increase in the council tax, the public will love that and the parties on the council will almost certainly be in harmony in proposing a freeze.
Although there has as yet been no official word from the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition administration about keeping the council tax at its present level, they are well aware that opting to increase it would cost them almost £1.8 million.
That is the amount Dundee stands to gain under the concordat between local government and the Scottish Government if the council tax is frozen.
While numbers are still being crunched to see what the full implications of the local government settlement are for Dundee, it would be hard to turn down the extra cash on offer.
If the administration go for a freeze it is difficult to see the Conservative group, who unofficially support the coalition, not supporting it.
Those three parties together can command a majority on the council, albeit by a single vote.
Not that there is much likelihood of the opposition SNP group proposing an increase in the council tax. After all, it was their party which, in the run-up to the parliamentary elections last year, pledged to freeze the council tax across the country prior to scrapping the system completely and introducing a local income tax.
So the chances are that, come February 14, the council will be united in its desire to woo the voters by leaving the council tax at its present level.
A firmer indication of whether or not the tax is to be frozen should come this week when the parties have to submit their budget proposals to council officials so they can be checked for competence and accuracy.
At £1211, Dundee currently has the fourth highest Band D council tax of Scotland’s 32 local authorities behind Aberdeen, Stirling and Glasgow. |
