Budget week: Glasgow City Council faces £50m spending gap
Raising council tax could be an option for councillors to consider when they set the budget on Thursday
Glasgow City Council is facing a £50 million black hole in its budget this year, with tough decisions looming as budget week gets underway.
Due to decisions taken in last years budget, which forecast a £107 million pounds spending gap over three years, most of this years savings are already allocated.
However, councillors still have to find £7.9 million to balance this books this year.
One of the key proposals on the table to address this is a 5% increase in council tax, a move that experts suggest could hit struggling households hard.
The proposed hike comes despite high levels of council tax debt across the city, with many residents already struggling to make ends meet.
'You've just got to pay it'
Vincent Chudy, chief officer of Glasgow Central Citizen's Advice Bureau, told Clyde 1: "I would imagine council tax will go up, as it hasn't done in some years.
"If it does, it'll have a knock on effect for everybody.
"You can go to a discount store to get your weekly shopping, or you can heat one room of your home instead of them all. But with council tax, there's no choice. You've just got to pay it.
"There's no control and no negotiation, it just goes up.
"People on benefits won't be impacted by a council tax rise because they have the benefit to cover it - it's people on low incomes who are more likely to feel the impact of it.
"If someone is on a low income, something else will have to be sacrificed to pay for that - whether it be food, clothing, heating.
"If you go to the supermarket, you'll come out of the store with things you can carry in your hands - council tax isn't a tangible thing.
"Some people will just not pay - they'll buy other things first which they feel are more important."
A council spokesperson said: “Glasgow City Council will set its budget on 20th February.
"A range of options are being considered by Councillors and therefore it is too early to say what the agreed position on council tax will be.”
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