By Bruce Robbins

The Dundee-based Council Tax Payers’ Association, which campaigns for the abolition of the local tax, yesterday claimed Dundonians had been “betrayed” by the councillors they elected to serve them.

The association’s secretary, Steve Blackwood, said the city council’s desperate efforts to avoid being labelled the highest taxing local authority in Scotland showed that councillors had “failed their electorate”.

The council will meet tonight to decide the 2006/07 council tax level after postponing their budget meeting last week when it became clear that the proposed increase would have catapulted the local authority to the top of the Scottish council tax league.

In so doing, the city council would have overtaken Glasgow, which returned a budget which required no increase in the council tax.

Dundee’s Labour/Liberal Democrat administration, which enjoys Tory backing, is believed last week to have had in mind a budget increase of between 4.5% and 5%, will have to get this figure below 3% if it is to remain behind Glasgow.

Mr Blackwood, a former Conservative councillor, said, “Dundee suffers whilst Glasgow enjoys no increase.

“The city is bottom of the league in every area other than council tax levels and Dundee councillors appear to have their own agendas, working the system in the same old way.

“We should ask ourselves, how many councillors have done real work and produced real results?

“It would appear that, to councillors, the object of the game isn’t to do the right thing— the object of their game is to stay there and fill their pockets with your money.

“Many councillors were elected on a platform of fighting to replace the council tax with a fairer, more equitable method of financing local government and reducing the burden on council tax payers.

“These councillors have failed to keep their word and keep faith with their electors. Council tax payers have been betrayed.”

The leader of the council’s Tory group, Councillor Bruce Mackie, said everyone would be making the maximum effort today to avoid the city council ending up the highest taxing authority in the country.

He blamed Government settlements for the financial difficulties facing the council and claimed that any administration, regardless of its political persuasion, would have found itself in the same position. He said, “It would be very, very difficult to do a better job. The Government is partly to blame for this as they keep on giving councils more and more duties without adequately funding them.”

Mr Bruce continued, “We haven’t been well served by the Government giving us proper funding.

“We will be doing everything we can to limit the council tax increase.

“There is more than just a public relations stigma at stake here. Having the highest tax might alter people’s perception of Dundee and could discourage people from coming here. There is a chance it could also accelerate the number of people leaving the city.”

At present, Dundee’s Band D council tax stands at £1180, compared to Glasgow’s £1213. Even a 4.5% increase would raise Dundee well above the Glasgow figure to around £1230. The arithmetic says that for Dundee to avoid the top spot, an increase of less than 3% is required.

Administration leader Jill Shimi said the postponement of the decision meant work-in-progress could be accelerated and further savings brought forward, with a beneficial impact on council tax. She said, “Council tax payers in Dundee can be assured that we are continually monitoring spending and priorities.

“The administration’s budget proposals tabled last Thursday would have led to a lower council tax than the opposition’s proposals.”

Finance convener Fraser Macpherson added, “Over the last five years, the cumulative council tax rise in Dundee has been the third lowest of all the 32 councils in Scotland. During that time, the gap between the council tax in Dundee and our neighbouring local government areas has been steadily reducing.”