West Lancashire Labour Group's "fantasy" shadow budget would hit families and vulnerable people with a 12% Council Tax increase.
Figures from Labour's alternative budget, presented to Full Council on Wednesday night (23rd February), show they would need to raise £830,000 in future years just to balance their budget.
At around £68,000 for every 1% increase in Council Tax, Labour would need to land hard-working families and vulnerable citizens with a Council Tax bill at TREBLE the rate of inflation to pay for their budget.
Cllr David Westley, Conservative finance chief on West Lancashire Borough Council, said: "Labour's 12% hike in Council Tax would hit hard working families and vulnerable people hard. This is in contrast with the Conservative Group's budget which includes a freeze in Council Tax for the second year running, whilst protecting jobs and public services.
"Labour's shadow budget is pure fantasy and unsustainable; they're raiding the council's reserves without coming clean on how they will fund the shortfall in future years.
"Reserves can only be spent once, and if you are going to use reserves, you need a plan for how you're going to bridge the gap in the coming years. Labour did not present councillors with any such plan, so we can only assume they will hit people with Council Tax increases.
"Labour have form on raising Council Tax in West Lancashire because when they were last in control, Council Tax hit nearly 15%. This is clear evidence they would do the same again if they were ever put back in control of West Lancashire ."