It was announced yesterday (Wednesday) that council tax in Leeds will rise again in a few weeks, with a further 3.99 per cent to be added to existing tariffs.
The changes will come into effect from April and will mean that some people could end up paying an extra £131 over the course of 2020/21.
It marks the seventh year in a row that council tax will increase for everyone across Leeds.
However, the leader of Leeds City Council, Cllr Judith Blake, has said that its hand has been forced due to significant budget cuts, and claimed that the actions of the Conservative government "continue to push the burden onto Leeds council tax payers".
During a gruelling five-hour debate at Leeds Civic Hall, she told all 99 of the city's councillors: "The uncertainty and disorganisation of government at a national level continues. Promises are made, but who knows what will be delivered.
"Our funding settlement wasn’t received until the last minute before the Christmas break. The final settlement only passed through the house of commons two days ago.
"I have news: austerity for this council is not over.
"Since 2010, the cumulative total of the cuts to our funding is an astonishing £1.7bn – that means the tories have taken £1.7bn out of services for people in Leeds.
"Even though on paper, it looks like our budget is increasing by £9m – don’t let the Conservatives fool you.
"The failure of the grant to cover increased cuts and pressures, it means this council needs to find even more savings. These cuts continue to push the burden onto Leeds council tax payers."
Despite yet another increase in council tax, Cllr Blake pointed out that people in Leeds are still paying less than those in the likes of Manchester and Nottingham.
She also added that the local authority has been able to keep the city’s 56 children’s centres open against a national backdrop of several years of austerity.
However, the leader of the Conservative opposition to the Labour-run Leeds City Council responded to Cllr Blake's claims.
Cllr Andrew Carter said: "As we have come to expect from the administration, nothing that goes wrong is ever their fault, and everything that goes right is down to them.
"This year we have to find £28.4m of savings, the debt has increased to such a degree that virtually all that saving is to pay that increased debt incurred by the Labour administration – £27.6m.
"This so-called £28.4m in cuts from government, is in fact £800,000 of cuts from government and £27.6m of increased debt repayments incurred by this council."
