Opposition parties in Dundee will go up against the SNP administration on Thursday in a battle of the budgets.
Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives will all bring alternative proposals to the table when the council meets at the Central Baptist Church.
The ruling SNP group will be putting forward plans which include a near-maximum 4.8% council tax rise to generate £2.5 million, with a number of savings also outlined to bring in a further £5 million.
Efficiency savings also include reducing the council’s overall headcount to raise £250,000, along with a staff structure review in schools to save £234,000.
The Tories have published an extract of their alternative budget and finance spokesman Philip Scott said they would hold the council tax increase to 3%.
They would also reverse SNP plans to cut education budgets, while spending additional capital budget income on roads and pavements.
Mr Scott said: “This year, the SNP government continues to force councils into making cuts, despite being given £1.6 billion extra by the UK Government but we feel the administration’s proposed cuts to teaching are a step too far.
“And hard-working families cannot be expected to shoulder maximum increases in council tax, every year. Despite the limited room for manoeuvre, we can keep council tax from hiking past the 3% mark.
“And we will ask councillors to back our plans to spend £500,000 more on potholes and pavements.”
Labour group leader Kevin Keenan said the party’s alternative budget would focus on investing in education and mental health and drugs services.
He said: “The Labour group’s proposals aim to stop cuts to teaching and support staff in primary education, and to deliver a major IT investment aimed at giving every Dundee child the best possible start in life by ensuring that they have access to the latest IT equipment.
“The Labour group will also be investing in ten new nurse practitioner posts, five of these would focus on drugs and five on mental health.”
Mr Keenan said they were also against plans to increase burial costs in the city, close municipal bowling greens and move towards three-weekly bin collections.
“Our budget proposals make clear that our priorities are education and improving the life chances of every young person in our city along with dealing with the crisis in mental health and drugs,” he said.
Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson said his party’s alternative budget will “considerably reduce the SNP’s proposed council tax hike of nearly 5% and will also aim to stop many of the SNP’s cuts to local services”.
“We can avoid such a high increase and also stop many of the worst excesses of the SNP cuts,” he said.
“We are entirely against the SNP cuts to school crossing patrollers, bowling greens and revenue expenditure of roads and we also want to stop SNP plans to reduce general waste bin collections to be collected only every third week.”
Mr Macpherson said the group will also aim to stop increases in burial ground charges and special collection charges that they feel will make fly-tipping worse.
