Council tax in Brighton and Hove is to be cut by 1 per cent from April and the price of residents’ parking permits will also be reduced.
The local Conservative administration said that it would receive an extra £3 million from the government as a reward for not putting up council tax rates.
Labour councillor Gill Mitchell said that the budget was a cynical ploy to buy votes in May when cuts totalling £24 million were being made to services.
And Green councillor Bill Randall said: “These cuts are going to victimise the vulnerable and penalise the poor.”
The Conservatives promised to fund free swimming for under 11s and protect or enhance spending on key preventive services such as homelessness prevention.
Out of a total overall budget of more three quarters of a billion pounds, including schools funding, Brighton and Hove City Council is being asked to find savings.
The draft budget published today looks to make £24.2 million in savings in the coming financial year alone and £82 million in the coming four years.
Councillor Mitchell, leader of the Labour opposition group, said: “They’re getting £3 million for not raising council tax but it will cost £1 million to fund the 1 per cent cut.
“That £1 million is coming out of reserves.
“They’re using nearly £12 million of reserves and £3.2 million of that is being used to block holes in their budget.
“That tells me they simply do not have the money to fund this reduction in council tax.
“This is just a cynical move to buy the election and it will have to be paid back after May.
“They are reducing the price of a residents parking permit but they have put it up year after year.
“A permit cost £80 when they took over (in 2007).
“We had kept it at that price for ten years but it’s gone up year after year to £115.”
The Conservative leader of the council, Councillor Mary Mears, said: “We face challenging financial times and our aim has been to ensure we are as lean and effective an organisation as possible.
“Our new structure means we identify how best to deliver the services that residents in the city want.
“But through robust financial management we want to help residents in the financial squeeze by reducing council tax and ensuring that we deliver essential services effectively.”
Councillor Randall, convenor of the Green group of councillors, said: “It’s quite clearly an election budget.
“They’re proposing to cut council tax by 1 per cent which will be paid for in jobs and service cuts.
“It looks to me like they don’t really mind what sort of mess they leave for whoever takes over.”
He added: “About 180 jobs will be lost.
“Eighty will be redundancies and the rest will be through natural wastage.”
The draft council budget will be considered by the council’s cabinet on Thursday 17 February.
It will then go before a meeting of the full council on Thursday 3 March.
A copy can be seen by clicking here.
