The Sheffield Trade Union Council (TUC) have warned workers the council tax increase will deepen the financial strain on workers already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
It will increase by 4.99% from 1st April.
Yesterday (March 5), Sheffield councillors approved the tax rise for the next financial year at a budget meeting in the Town Hall.
The TUC has condemned the budget, saying the tax rise unfairly burdens low-income households.
Carrie Hedderwick, a TUC representative, said: “People are shocked at what an increased council tax will mean. It’s another financial burden.”
“After today, the letters will start coming through about what the council tax will be for the following from from April and that’s when people will be really put back”
The Council argues that the tax increase is necessary to protect services amid a £71.7 million budget gap, with social care alone requiring £54 million in funding.
Councillor Zahira Naz, Chair of the Finance and Performance Committee, said: “After more than a decade of underfunding, the council have had to make incredibly difficult choices.”
“We’ve had to find ways to do more with less to stretch every pound and to make savings in ways that don’t hurt our communities.”
The TUC says the real issue lies with decades of government underfunding and outsourcing of public services.
Cllr Naz said the council has received a ‘better than expected’ local government with £17.4 million of extra funding.
Councillor Tom Hunt said: “After 14 long years, this year’s Financial settlement for local government took significant steps in the right direction.”
“We now have a government that is at our side, not at our throat.”
Despite this, the TUC is urging the council to demand proper funding from central government and to stop cutbacks instead of increasing council tax.
Hedderwick said: “The minute you start funding services properly, then the need for certain services might drop down anyway.”
“What this council should be doing is demanding that the central government comes up with adequate funding to support local services, rather than scrabbling around trying to scrape bits of money off people who can ill afford it.”
The council tax increase is expected to hit lower-income households hardest, with further financial pressure expected as energy costs and inflation continue to rise.