Falkirk council tax set to rise by 4% as cuts proposed to school transport and public toilets

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Falkirk district could see a council tax rise of 4 per cent amid more than £5 million of cuts to services when councillors meet to set the district's budget next Wednesday.

With a £29 million budget deficit to bridge, councillors have been warned they are facing very difficult decisions. And cuts could include scrapping the council's pest control service, cutting funding for school transport, reducing the budget for school cleaning, losing public toilets and ending the provision of free dog poo bags.Budget papers show that in a bid to reduce the gap, the SNP administration is proposing to use the maximum £5 million of reserves, leaving them with the allowed minimum of £7.5 million.Other additional grants and a change to loan payments will also help to plug the gap - but it will still leave a substantial deficit.As a minority administration, the SNP will need the backing of at least one other political group or all three of the the council's independents to get the budget through.That means that none of the budget proposals are set in stone - but councillors have been told there is not much room for manoeuvre.Options on the table include charging £20 a year for brown bin collections - starting in July - and reintroducing a charge for special uplifts.There are also plans to cut the hours that the council's waste recycling centres are open - either by having Roughmute and Kinneil close on alternate Mondays or reducing the overall hours and introducing an electronic booking system.The council's pest control service - which was scrapped then restored - is also targeted for closure again.In a bid to make the savings, other cuts include stopping - or charging for - free provision of dog poo bags, cutting lollipop patrols,