Fife Council is facing an £11 million budget shortfall after weathering multi-million pound Covid-19 storm.
Members of the local authority’s policy and co-ordination committee heard on Thursday the economic impact of virus on the council has been revised downwards by around £3 million from an initial £76 million a few months ago.
However, the move to Level 4 restrictions and subsequent imposition of lockdown conditions will increase pressure on finances.
Among the biggest impacts is a loss of £20.4m of expected building services income, £7m in lost community income from facilities such as village halls and £1.8 million in car parking fees.
The council has also paid £1.5 million on home-working equipment to ensure services could be delivered by staff remotely.
The year-end forecasted gap is around £11m, which will need to be plugged when budget decisions are made in February.
Eileen Rowland, executive director of finance and corporate services, said the authority cannot be complacent in the final months of the financial year, even as more support becomes available from external sources.
While an estimated £4.6m of funding from the Scottish Government is expected, Ms Rowland said there are still areas of overspend in which the means of balancing finances have not been identified.
“It is clear that the quantum of funding available for loss of income across Scotland is unlikely to cover the full extent of income lost over the year.
“On this basis negotiation and dialogue will continue between COSLA, Scottish Government and the UK Government in relation to the consequentials that will be passported to councils.”
