Councils may have to meet in cinemas, theatres or sports halls so they can allocate money for bin collections.
Local authorities are finalising their annual budgets this month and next to pay for rubbish removal and other public services.
But chief executives are telling them they must be socially distanced when they do and many council chambers are not big enough to get all councillors in.
The Government passed emergency legislation to allow councils to meet and vote over Zoom during the pandemic.
But that ran out last year and the Tories refuse to make Parliamentary time available to renew it. Which means councillors can only vote in person.
Peter Fleming, leader of Kent’s Sevenoaks District Council, said: “Councils are sovereign bodies and we should be able to decide for ourselves how we meet.
“This doesn’t say much about the independence of local authorities.”
Councils have a legal duty to set budgets and every councillor has the right to vote on them.
Hiring large venues just to comply with the law will have to be added to council tax bills. And that’s only if they have somewhere big enough nearby.
If they cannot meet they will either have to extend existing budgets, or get Communities Secretary Michael Gove to set them.
And any big spending decisions will have to be delayed.
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association representing 350 councils said: “ Budget meetings can be the most important councils hold each year and are normally the most heavily attended.
“Holding these meetings wholly in person is unnecessary when councils have demonstrated over the pandemic that it is possible to meet in a remote or hybrid way.”
