SOMERSET Council is having to take "heart-breaking" steps to bridge a £100m funding gap for the next financial year, council leader Bill Revans has said.

Papers published yesterday (Friday, January 5) for the Council's Executive meeting on January 15 give further details on the council's plans to generate further income and cut costs.

This includes a 10 per cent increase in Council Tax, a reduction to services, the sale of council assets and the need to use £36.8m of reserves.

Last year, the council declared a financial emergency due to spiralling costs and a lack of funding for local government.

The council's historically low Council Tax rate hasn't helped. Out of 63 unitary councils, Somerset Council comes in at 49th lowest.

Income may be generated by raising fees such as parking charges. Contracts may also be reviewed to see where savings could be had.

Discretionary services may also be stopped, which include CCTV, public toilets, theatres, leisure services, visitor centres and closing five recycling sites.

It is hoped that other community groups will be able to step in to ensure services don't stop completely.

Cllr Revans said: “This is what a financial emergency looks like. No decisions have been made, but all of these savings and the 10 per cent Council Tax increase are unprecedented actions that have to be considered if we are to steer this authority through a period of extreme pressure. 

“Officers have done as we asked and left no stone unturned. The result is a set of options, many of which are very unpalatable – some heart-breaking - that no-one would want to take forward."

Residents are urged to have their say in the council's budget consultation, which could help councillors set a balanced budget. This runs until January 22.

The papers published yesterday set out £35m of proposals. Of these, £24m are new and will be referred to the Council’s Resources Scrutiny Committee before any decisions are taken.

During the Council Executive meeting, the Government will be asked for flexibility to increase Council Tax by more than the referendum limit to 10 per cent (including the 2 per cent social care precept). This would generate an extra £17.1m and raise the average band D Council Tax bill to £1,810 – still below the unitary average of £1,815.

Cllr Revans added: ”We understand the pressure on everyone’s household budgets and have recently taken steps to ensure that we have a Council Tax Reduction and Hardship scheme in place to protect the most vulnerable in our community from any increase.”

The council may also need to reduce the size of the organisation and its staffing.