BLACKPOOL Borough Council needs more cash -- and that's the view of an independent report into the town's financial state.
A new study by a council funding expert says the council will have to increase taxes to pay for education and care.
But opposition leaders say it is the "here and now" that matters and the council is hitting the most vulnerable members of society the hardest.
The cash-strapped council admitted last week that without a boost in the grant it gets from central government it will have to increase taxes to make ends meet.
Recent announcements have revealed council house rent is to go up by more than £5 per week and that council tax will probably rise by an average £100 per year or 15 per cent for Blackpool residents.
But council leader George Bancroft said last week that council tax would not have to go up by as much if the government would loosen its purse strings.
The study by Rita Hale, an expert on local government finance, has concluded that the town does not get a fair deal from the government grant system.
The report is said to confirm what the council thought and that without extra government funding, council tax will have to be raised by "between 15 and 20 per cent"-- that is, if the town is to increase spending on education in line with Ofsted as the government suggest. Coun Bancroft said: "This report supports the council's case for a better deal for the town and the hard decisions we are making about council tax levels if we can't get a better deal."
Tory leader Peter Callow says that Coun Bancroft is not thinking in the "here and now" and that these sudden rises in tax will hit the most vulnerable the hardest. "What he needs to understand is that these rises will affect families' budgets now," he said.
"Everyone is worried about the present and suddenly these families are bracing themselves to be hit with demands for more money.
"With the rise of £5.58 per week in council house rent -- which is huge -- plus suddenly council tax going up, the most vulnerable members of our society -- those just above the poverty line -- will be the worst affected."
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