COUNCIL tax in the Borders is set to soar by almost five percent from April - the maximum allowed by local authorities.

But senior councillors have vowed to aim the extra cash at the region's crumbling roads as well as deliver replacement secondary schools for Galashiels and Hawick on time.

It was announced last week that Scottish Borders Council will receive an annual settlement from Holyrood of £235.6 million for 2020-21.

And on Tuesday morning council leader Shona Haslam as well as her finance spokesman Robin Tatler unveiled the administration's spending plans.

But to protect frontline services, improve roads and deliver replacement schools as well as build two new 60-bed care homes, council tax payers will have to dig deep.

As well as a proposed 4.84 percent increase in council tax, service charges are also set to go up by an average of three percent.

Councillor Tatler said: "The change to the school funding position has meant that to be able to deliver replacements for Galashiels and Hawick in the timescales originally envisaged we have had to increase the council tax rise to 4.84 percent.

“In effect this is just an extra 42p per week for those in Band D properties over and above the indicative three per cent increase that was included in last year’s budget plan.

“Importantly this will enable us to raise the capital funding required to deliver an extra £2.2m for road repairs, the secondary school replacement programme and two new care homes. "That is a huge amount of investment for a relatively small weekly cost to our residents.

“Almost three quarters of residents are in properties in council tax bands A-D, and of those in Band A almost two thirds are eligible for discounts or reliefs, so the impact on those with lower incomes is minimised.

"Over 43 percent of all households are eligible for some form of council tax relief or discount.”

There were fears that replacement schools for both Hawick and Galashiels would slip with Peebles, following November's fire, being given priority.

But funding has been identified for taking all three school builds forward together.

And cash has also been identified to build a 60-bed care home in Hawick and another in the central Borders, expected to be at Tweedbank.

Council leader Haslam told us: “The decision to raise council tax to the maximum level was a particularly difficult decision and one that I regret.

"However given the Scottish Government's change in their promised funding model for new schools and the demographic pressures we are facing there was simply no choice.

"This level of council tax means that we essentially break even on our budget, and can still deliver the vital capital investment that this region needs.

"There is an ever growing pressure on our care system meaning we need to provide an extra 77 care home beds within just two years to meet that demand.

“Our exciting plans will see 120 beds provided by the end of 2023, which will go a long way to putting us ahead of the curve of the demographic pressures that are coming in the years ahead."

The detailed spending plans, which go before the full council next month, don't highlight any job losses, although it is expected that around 40 posts won't be filled over the next two years as reviews continue within departments.