Today we were back in the Council Chamber for the first Budget meeting of this term of Council.
However, there was little to be too happy about as we faced some £20m of cuts to services just to stand still.

To paint a picture, Aberdeenshire is the third lowest funded council in Scotland – and has been for too many years to remember.
If the Scottish Government changed things and gave us our fiar share of the annual grant – we would have around £52m to spend.

Councillors agreed to a revenue budget for the 2018/19 year of £543m. This is the amount held to cover day-to-day funding of services such as staffing and service delivery.

There was agreement across the chamber from councillors of all parties that council tax will go up by 3%.  A different course of action would leave a £4m hole in the finances, which would mean even more cuts.  The new Tax Rates are as follows:
The SNP/Labour Partnership, and Democratic, Independent & Green Group both put forward alternative budgets – but after two votes the contest was won by the Tory/Lib Dem/independent administration by 41 votes to 21.

We also approved a capital plan for 2018 to 2033 which totals £849m, including a Peterhead community campus, £23m for an Inverurie community campus, and £6m for a community sports facility at the Hill of Banchory. The plan was approved, but after the agreement one councillor registered his dissent.

Extra funding of £5.17m was allocated to the council’s reserves to pay for pay increases – which are still being negotiated nationally – and any overspends in 2018-19.
The council’s own carbon budget was also agreed, and we have to reduce our emissions by 4,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which is about the same as taking 784 cars off the road for a full year.

Finally, it was agreed unanimously to increase council house rents by 3.75%. The average weekly increase will be £2.67, taking the average weekly rent to £73.90.