Proposals to hike council tax in York by the maximum allowed have come under fire with opposition parties pointing to a previous pledge to freeze it.
Residents would expect the ruling Labour administration to keep the tax at the current rate now a Labour government was in power as previously promised, said Lib Dem Cllr Paul Healey.
Conservative group leader Cllr Chris Steward said a hike to the maximum 4.99 per cent allowed would be a shame, adding Labour should get to grips with council finances instead.
But City of York Council leader Claire Douglas said opposition claims about council tax were misleading and accused them of disastrous management of local and national finances.
In the current budge consultation York residents are being asked if they would support council tax hikes from April and for the following two years.
A 4.99 per cent increase – the maximum allowed – is equivalent to a £96.99 hike during the next financial year for a Band D property.
But this comes in the wake of a York Labour leaflet distributed during the 2023 local election campaign which quoted Cllr Douglas saying: “York needs a Labour-run council to freeze your council tax”.
The Labour administration has said the hikes come as the council faces a budget black hole of £30m over the next three years, according to its medium-term financial forecasts.
Cllr Douglas previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the Labour Party had asked her to include the pledge on the leaflet in line with national policy proposals.
Then opposition leader Keir Starmer said his party would freeze council tax for a year if it got into government during the 2023 local elections.
Those elections saw Labour take power in York, defeating the then incumbent Liberal Democrat and Green coalition administration.
But the party went on to hike council tax by the maximum allowed in its first budget in February.
And the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement unveiled in November stated the council tax referendum threshold would remain at 5 per cent, with no plans for a freeze mentioned.
The provisional settlement, which comes ahead of detailed ones for each councils, estimated that they would see an increase in core spending power of 3.2 per cent including tax hikes.
‘Huge decision’
York Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson Cllr Healey said Labour risked losing residents’ trust if they did not follow through on the pledge now the party is in government.
He said: “York Labour’s council bosses have a huge decision to make on council tax.
“It will be interesting to see how they manage to freeze council tax with a lower than inflation settlement from their Westminster bosses.
“This is at a time where adult social care costs are ballooning due to York Labour’s cuts in early intervention and National Insurance increases.”
Cllr Steward said a council tax hike by the maximum allowed would be totally wrong and regressive.
The Conservative said: “To make their position more absurd we must remember that before the 2023 local election they were leafleting pledging to freeze council tax.
“What makes this budget unique though is it is the first in York for 15 years with a Labour council and Labour government.
“In the 15 previous years York’s Labour councillors have shouted from the rooftops that government should provide councils with more money, ridiculously now Labour is in government they have gone totally quiet on these appeals.”
Cllr Douglas said the opposition parties had decimated local council budgets after forming the coalition in 2010.
The council leader added they would probably propose increasing council tax by the maximum allowed if they controlled the authority, given their record when in administration themselves.
Cllr Douglas said: “Liberal Democrats are like a stuck record.
“Following their disastrous financial management of the council and the pivotal role their party played in national coalition decimating local council budgets, they now complain about national measures to return funding to valued public services.
“Continuing to mislead the public over council tax is pointless.”