Councillors have voted to set a one-year 2022/23 revenue budget in February 2022 rather than a three-year plan.
Members were this week asked to approve the move due to several uncertainties caused by the pandemic.
But one councillor called the move - brought before a meeting of full council on November 15 - “irresponsible.”
PKC’s head of finance Stewart Mackenzie told councillors: “There are significant challenges in trying to prepare a detailed budget for the following two years.
“However elected members will undoubtedly want to set out their desired direction of travel on council tax - it will be for elected members to articulate that.”
Tabling the motion relating to PKC’s medium-term financial plan, council leader Murray Lyle said: “We are being asked to set a one-year revenue budget for 2022/23. Clearly to all it would have been more favourable to set multi-year budgets.
“However - as the report sets out - we will not have any funding information from the Scottish Government beyond 2022/23.
“Furthermore, the local government elections in May 2022 will return a new set of councillors and - in my view - it is only right that they set the future direction of the council.”
It was seconded by Conservative councillor John Duff.
Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey tabled an amendment to set out balanced indicative budgets for years two and three when setting the revenue budget in February.
Cllr Bailey said it was “prudent” to leave the incoming administration a balanced budget in “tip-top condition” and allow them to make their adjustments on top of that.
He added: “I think it would be irresponsible of us to leave the chamber without trying our best to set out balanced budgets for years two and three. It’s always been the practice in the past to do that and it’s always been this situation that the Scottish Government has not been able to set us years two and three numbers.”
It was seconded by Independent councillor Xander McDade.
Liberal Democrat councillor Willie Wilson said: “Normally the Lib Dem group would support a longer term budget process but on this occasion it’s very difficult to quantify that at the moment because of the lack of information.”
Cllr Bailey argued there were always unknowns about funding and whether or not there would be a council tax cap and said PKC had previously set three-year budgets when faced with uncertainty over Brexit and its implications.
Newly-appointed chief executive Thomas Glen highlighted the extra workload outlining a three-year budget would entail and the capacity challenge it would present PKC to do this.
He added: “More importantly any such exercise would include significant unknowns about the level of funding we would have available and potential proposals would be very limited in their detail - in terms of the options officers would have to effectively bridge any gaps there may be in funding years two and three - without the information from government in terms of the settlement available.”
Cllr Lyle said: “I only wish that Cllr Bailey’s amendment was correct and by accepting the amendment we would leave the council’s finances in tip-top condition - unfortunately that’s not at our behest particularly.
“It’s really crystal ball gazing and beyond to accept a three-year financial plan at this point.”
There were 34 votes for the motion and five for the amendment. It was supported by all three members of the Independent and Labour group as well as Conservative councillors Callum Purves and Colin Stewart.
Conservative councillor Anne Jarvis abstained.
