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Council tax 2022-23: How your charges compare with the rest of Scotland

There are big differences in how councils are charging households in different areas.
There are big differences in how councils are charging households in different areas.

Use our interactive map of Scotland to see how council tax levels are changing in every area – with differences of more than £300 a year on average between the highest and lowest.

You can click on any of the country’s 32 local authority areas to see the annual increase and compare next year with current charges across every property band, from A to H.

Rates have been set across the country for 2022-23, with 3% rises set across the north and north-east.

Shetland bucked the trend by freezing council tax.

However, there are big differences in how councils are charging households in different areas.

The map shows those living in Aberdeen pay the most in council tax across the north and north-east, at an average of £1,893.96.

This is almost £300 more than those living in Shetland but only around £40 above what Aberdeenshire residents will pay.

The national increases in council tax range between 1.95% and 3.5%, with only Shetland Council opting to freeze council rates rates for 2022-23.

Council tax will rise by 3% in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highland, Orkney, Western Isles and Argyll and Bute.

What services do councils provide?

Councils provide a range of vital public services including education, housing and planning.

Local authorities have to fund social care, roads and transport, bin collections, and economic development.

But financial pressures have left councils across the north and north-east looking for ways to balance the books.

Aberdeen City Council HQ, Marischal College in Broad Street.
Aberdeen’s Marischal College.

In Aberdeen, residents were spared the worst after councillors voted to avoid controversial cost-saving measures.

They discarded proposals to increase the price of school meals, to end free fruit and milk in schools and make some crossing patrollers redundant.

Instead, savings will be made through a long list of in-house changes, including slicing staff travel expenses by £120,000.

£150 cashback promise

To offset a cost of living crisis, nearly two million households across Scotland will receive a separate £150 council tax rebate in April – not reflected in the charges set by every council in recent days.

Around 313,000 properties in the north and north-east will be in line for the credit, which applies to people in council tax bands A to D.

Councils will have a choice – they can either deliver a direct payment or a credit to council tax accounts for 2022-23.

Aberdeenshire council tax rise

Aberdeenshire Council will spend around 2.5% of the 3% council tax rise to deliver many core services including education, waste, benefits and planning.

The remaining 0.5% council tax payments will go towards the local authority’s infrastructure fund that will beused to provide essential upgrades and improvements to buildings, roads and bridges across the region.

This is the first year local authorities had complete flexibility to set council tax rates since the SNP came to power in 2007.

Scottish Government Finance Secretary Kate Forbes announced she would give an extra £120 million to hard-pressed local councils in a bid to stop “inflation-busting” tax rises.

The extra cash is the equivalent of a 4% increase to council tax.