Furious council chiefs branded Aberdeen the “poor man of Scotland” as it emerged it was one of only six local authorities to receive less than £100million in Scottish Government funding.
The third-biggest city in the country has joined rural areas Clackmannanshire, the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland and West Dumbartonshire in being awarded what has been described as a “measly” sum in the 2016-17 general revenue funding round.
Aberdeen will receive £97.523million – just 24.4% of its budget – from the government, compared with a Scottish average of 58.59%.
As a consequence of the city getting less than 85% of the Scottish average, it receives an additional subsidy of £13.235million.
The only other authority to receive the funding is Edinburgh.
Neighbouring Aberdeenshire will receive £308million, while Moray has been awarded £154.994million and Highland Council will get £308.103million.
Other Scottish cities also outshine Aberdeen, with Dundee receiving £211.613million, Edinburgh £325.182million and Glasgow £835.368million.
City council finance convener Willie Young said Aberdeen “needed” the long-awaited multibillion-pound City Region Deal to offset costs as it struggles to make budget cuts of more than £10million.
He added that the oil capital of Europe had been the “powerhouse” of the Scottish economy for years and now needed more funds as the downturn in the oil industry took hold.
He added: “(Finance Secretary) John Swinney is laughing at the people of Aberdeen.
“We have been a victim of our own success, because we traditionally have brought in lots in business rates.
“It’s a disgrace that a city the size of Aberdeen should subsidise the rest of Scotland.
“Dundee, with fewer people than us, is getting much more funding.”
Finance vice-convener Ross Thomson added: “There is no incentive for the city to grow its economy.
“This just shows we are becoming the poor man of Scotland.”
But a Scottish Government spokesman said: “No council receives less than 85% of the adjusted Scottish average.
“Funding allocations for councils are calculated using the needs-based formula agreed with Cosla.
“The Scottish Government has again provided £25million to support council budgets that would otherwise have had funding per head lower than 85% of the average.
“This was calculated as it was in previous years and Aberdeen again receives the majority of this additional funding, £13.9million.”