A raft of cuts are on the table as Inverclyde Council faces a budget black hole in excess of £8 million over the next two years.
The local authority is asking residents for their views on council tax and various savings ideas against a stark financial backdrop.
It disclosed it needs to plug a gap of £3.359m for 2026/27 and £5.248m in 2027/28 as it published a range of cost-cutting options.
The proposals put forward include closing libraries, ending free swimming, reducing employability services, stopping civic and community events and cutting back on CCTV, community wardens and street cleaning.
Approximately 70 jobs would be lost if all of the options, which total just over £4m, were to be taken up by the cash-strapped council.
A consultation has been launched for people to have their say on the potential measures and by how much council tax, as well as fees and charges, should be increased to help address the deficit.
Feedback will be taken on board by officers and elected members during the budget-setting process, with a special full council meeting due to be held on Thursday, March 5, to formally set the budget and council tax rate for 2026/27.
Council leader Stephen McCabe said: “Neither myself, fellow councillors or council officers want to cut services or increase fees and charges.
“However, the funding we receive from the Scottish Government to deliver vital, frontline services has not kept pace with demand and inflation and there is little or no fat left to trim, which is why we’re having to look at drastic measures like closing community facilities, shutting down or significantly reducing services and increasing fees and charges.
“In Inverclyde alone, since 2008 we, as a council, have had to make budget savings of £77m and we still face an estimated total funding gap of £8.6m for the next two years.
“The stark reality is that councils have been starved of fair and sustainable funding for far too long that we are now in an impossible position of being forced to make extremely difficult decisions.
“This is the same for councils and the wider public sector in Scotland and it’s simply unsustainable and unfair on the people and the communities we serve.
“It’s important that the people who could be directly affected by these savings proposals have the opportunity to have their say and I encourage as many people as possible to take part in our public consultation ahead of the budget and council tax meeting in March.”
The consultation will run until Monday, February 9, and the full list of options can be viewed at inverclyde.gov.uk/news/2026/jan/budget-2026-28-have-your-say-on-council-savings-proposals
