Lichfield District Council cannot afford to keep spending money on services as it does now, a councillor has warned.
The local authority has unveiled plans to begin charging for brown bin collections.
It is part of the long-term review of council services in a bid to fill a multi-million pound shortfall in funding.
Cllr Iain Eadie, Cabinet member for waste management at Lichfield District Council, said a funding gap of more than £620,000 in 2018/19 and a further £2million the following year means tough decisions will have to be made.
“The spending plan for the next three years, even assuming council tax goes up by £5 each year and using up all of the council’s available savings and reserves, shows that if Lichfield District Council carries on with its services as now, it has to find £2.7million.
“The council cannot therefore afford to keep spending as it does just now.”
The plan comes on the back of moves by Staffordshire County Council to introduce charges for some waste services at household recycling centres in Lichfield and Burntwood.
Cllr Eadie said the blame for the current financial picture – which sees Lichfield District Council spending 20% less on services than it did five years ago – does not solely fall at the feet of the current Government.
“The previous Labour, Coalition and current Government all spent, or spend, money beyond what they had or have coming in,” he said. “It is acknowledged this is not sustainable and public spending needs to equal public finance.
“While the political parties may differ on how to achieve this, all would make reductions to public spending.
“Councillors would welcome feedback from residents on what ideas they feel could help reduce the council expenditure, or generate additional income to avoid changing the services we deliver.”
