Skip to content

Aberdeenshire council tax payers will see 4% rise in bills

BBC Aberdeenshire Council meetingBBC
Aberdeenshire's council tax was decided on Thursday

Aberdeenshire councillors have voted for a 4% increase in council tax - the first of Scotland's 32 councils to agree on a figure.

The rise will see a Band D bill go up by more than £50 a year, from £1,339.83 to £1,393.42.

The motion for the 4% increase was from the Conservative, Lib Dem and independent coalition.

It was voted through on Thursday morning with the SNP amendment of a 6% rise failing.

Councils have appealed to the Scottish government for more money but ministers said they were given a fair settlement in challenging circumstances.

Aberdeenshire Council leader Mark Findlater proposed the 2023/24 increase of 4%.

He said it came amid rising costs and people struggling, and that the decision was not being taken lightly.

Mark Findlater
Council leader Mark Findlater proposed the 4% rise

"I think this is the best way forward for Aberdeenshire Council," Mr Findlater said.

"It's a prudent way forward for folk going through these difficult times.

"Services will suffer. We will be making an awful lot of difficult decisions, but make them we have to."

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Presentational white space

Councillor Gwyneth Petrie had proposed the 6% increase in a bid to protect services.

Council tax bills in Aberdeenshire rose by 3% last year.

All Scotland's councils are obliged to set their budgets for 2023/24 in the coming weeks with many of them making their decisions on either 23 February or 1 March.