HERE we go again. Another year, another deficit in our local authorities' budgets.

Residents are bracing themselves for the annual double whammy: a hike in council tax bills, and swingeing cuts in services.

North Yorkshire County Council has already announced that its residents can expect to a ten per cent-plus rise in council tax. City of York Council householders, meanwhile, are looking at a rise of perhaps seven per cent, plus cutbacks of £4.7 million.

Finding ways to slash the budget year after year must demoralise councillors. This year they are sharing the burden by distributing a questionnaire to ward committees, asking where residents would wield the axe.

The questionnaire, also reproduced on the Internet, makes depressing reading. Should we close York's centres for those with mental health problems? Should we cut pensioners' travel concessions?

Again, it is the most vulnerable in our society that are expected to pay the price of the unequal distribution of wealth in this prosperous city.

York residents can also vote on whether street cleaning services should be reduced. We can already anticipate the answer: a resounding "no". The Liberal Democrats have accused the council of slashing the city's environment budget by £1 million since 1999. The new proposal is to reduce the frequency of cleaning patrols from once a week to fortnightly.

Residents view street cleaning as a fundamental job of their council, and will take a dim view of any further deterioration of the service. Moreover, it is a false economy. A city so reliant on tourism will deter repeat visits if it looks filthy or unkempt.

It is ironic that all these cuts are forced on York's Labour council by the Labour Government's pitifully-small financial settlement.

In its desperation not to be seen as a tax-and-spend party, New Labour is forcing its own local authorities to shut down centres for the mentally ill, while rubbish piles up on the streets.

Updated: 10:36 Wednesday, January 16, 2002