THERE'S no need to hit Fifers with five per cent hikes in council tax and rent when they're already struggling with a cost of living crisis, say the SNP.

Councillor David Alexander said the Labour administration proposals will pile on the pain and are "unnecessary" to balance Fife Council's books.

The SNP group have tabled plans for a three per cent rise in council tax and say they'd still have money to invest in services to help the homeless, fix roads and tackle flooding.

Cllr Alexander, the leader of the opposition, said: "The administration don't seem to realise that 10.6 per cent inflation is not our fault, it's not Fife or Scotland's fault, it's the Tory government's fault.

"Labour seem to be ignoring that and we're really concerned with five per cent rises in council tax and rent when both are unnecessary.

"We've balanced the books with a three per cent rise and are still spending £3.9m in helping those most affected by the Tory cost of living crisis."

He continued: "We can 100 per cent guarantee there would be no cuts to jobs and no cuts to services.

"This is the fourth year in a row that Fife Council are not cutting any jobs or services and the fourth year in a row we've invested additional resources into our services.

"This is the real truth and in direct contrast to the misleading statements from the Labour administration."

With a general fund revenue budget gap of £11.5m for 2023-24, the SNP plan to bring in £5.4m by raising the council tax by three per cent.

That would see the bill for a band D property rise by £39.58 a year. A five per cent increase would see bills climb by £65.96 a year.

The £2m of funding that was originally meant for teachers has been reinstated by the Scottish Government and is now part of the council's settlement, reducing the gap further.

Just like Labour, the SNP would also use £8m of reserves to close the remaining gap. This would give them an extra £3.9m to invest in services, lower than Labour's £6.4m.

They would spend it on: £475,000 on 250 starter packs for the homeless; £600,000 to the Welfare Fund; £800,000 for flood prevention measures; £1.5m to tackle potholes; £300,000 for foodbanks and community larders; £63,000 to write off unrecoverable school meal debt; and £150,000 for increased provision to schools of musical instruments.

The SNP group say there is "no financial requirement" for a five per cent rise in council tax, as proposed by the administration.

Cllr Alexander said: "Every year David Ross (council leader) makes dire predictions that we're facing £50m, £60m, £70m budget gaps, that services will be cut and jobs lost.

"It's totally false, it never happens. The forecasts for years two and three tend to be gross exaggerations.

"We've got more employees now (18,064) than we had in 2015 (17,718), if you believe Labour there'd be no-one left!

"The issue right now is the cost of living crisis. Inflation has changed absolutely everything.

"The Scottish Government uplift from Westminster is 3.4 per cent and inflation is 10.6 per cent. There's the issue.

"It's not Scottish Government underfunding councils, it's Tory underfunding of the Scottish Government and we don't know if it's going to get any better."

The SNP are the biggest party in Fife Council, with 34 councillors out of 75, but with no overall majority they ended up in opposition.

However a small swing in votes would be enough for their budget proposals to be passed on Thursday.

Cllr Alexander said: "We cannot set out to deliberately make things worse. Labour's unimaginative and unnecessary increases demonstrate just how out of touch they are.

"People are struggling and if you asked them if they want a lower council tax at this point in time they would. Inflation is 10.6 per cent and may not reduce any time soon.

"If you believe the Tories they think they can get inflation down to five per cent. If that's true that will be the time, possibly, to increase council tax to get more money in.

"But not when inflation is at 10.6 per cent!

"We've got 500 people a week coming to us for crisis grants, that's the reality."

He also said that only 4.5 per cent of the council funding is ring-fenced and insisted: "It's all still money coming to Fife. It's £49m for areas like education and childcare.

"When Labour talk about underfunding, they ignore that."

Cllr Alexander also took aim at the administration over rent rises: "Labour went to the tenants and consulted about one, two or three per cent rises.

"The reaction from 53 per cent of tenants was they couldn't afford any more, they wanted a rent freeze.

"What do Labour do? Put rent up by five per cent! They're devoid of reality right now.

"The problem is Labour in Fife no longer attack the Tories as they need their votes at Fife Council.

"It's as sordid as that."