A Conservative councillor has said local authorities are frightened to ditch the civic traditions.
Lichfield District Council’s bill for its civic functions is more than £50,000 per year.
But a meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee saw representatives from both sides air their views on the amount spent.
A task group has now been set up to analyse the £16,000 due to be spent on a chauffeur-driven car for the local authority’s chairman.
Cllr Martyn Tittley, Conservative representative for Armitage with Handsacre, said the review needed to be thorough.
“We should not renew the lease at this stage,” he said. “One of the options is to hire a car and driver for each event. This could be done on an event-by-event basis and we can then analyse the view of each event too.
“The problem is that everyone is frightened to pull out of the civic traditions.”
His views were echoed by Labour opposition group leader, Cllr Sue Woodward.
She said: “We need to look at the £50,000-plus a year spent on the civic budget.
“The chain gang going to have these meals with each other – is there really value in this?”
