Perth and Kinross Council tax will rise by 9.5% from April 1.
Councillors approved the region’s biggest ever increase on Wednesday.
It will take the annual council tax for a Band D property from £1,403.69 to £1,537.04.
That is just below the 10% rise that officers had recommended.
But it means households will have to pay an extra £11.11 a month, or £2.56 a week.
And further rises of 9.5% and 6% could also follow in the next two years.
The council tax increase was agreed as Perth and Kinross councillors met to set the budget for the year ahead on Wednesday.
They also approved a raft of plans, including a rescue package for closure-threatened libraries.
Culture Perth and Kinross will receive £1 million over two years to keep the five libraries open and protect opening hours at Perth Museum and Perth Art Gallery.
And campaigners in Alyth, Auchterarder, Birnam, Comrie and Scone will be invited to work with the two organisations on ways to make local services sustainable.
There was also wide-ranging support for a £170,000 investment in the council’s instrumental music service.
This will allow tuition to continue at current levels.
And again, it follows a series of protests against proposed cuts to the service.
Council tax rise to support Perth and Kinross Council spending
Other measures agreed in the budget include:
• £9m to develop sites for new and expanding businesses;
• £8m on health and social care, including £1m over two years to support transformation in social care services;
• An extra £1m on road repairs, and £2m for bridges and other structures;
• £1m to support local community resilience groups and to develop a vulnerable persons database for flooding and other emergencies;
• A £750,000 investment in AI over two years. Officers will also be challenged to come up with an extra £1m in savings as a result of the efficiencies AI will bring;
• £450,000 in providing apprenticeships and training over the next three years;
• £100,000 towards Jeanfield Swifts Community Football Club’s plans for a new all-weather facility at North Muirton, Perth;
• £70,000 for an extra annual cut to A-class road verges in Perth and Kinross;
• The garden waste charge will be frozen at the 2025/26 level for the next two years;
• There will be a trial extension of extended summer opening hours at main recycling centres;
• Free bus travel across Perth and Kinross will continue on the first Saturday of every month;
• And £130,000 will be made available to support mental health organisations, including The Neuk and FarmStrong;
‘Budget prioritises those most in need’
Other political parties put forward their own budget proposals and suggested council tax rises, ranging from the independent group’s 7.5% to the Lib Dems’ 9.75%.
However, the SNP administration’s budget was passed by 26 votes to 13, with one abstention.
The final package did incorporate many of the other parties’ suggestions.
These range from gates to prevent drivers from trying to cross the flooded River Isla at Coupar Angus to £30,000 for a “P in the Park” compostable toilet in Auchterarder.
Perth and Kinross Council leader Grant Laing said the authority could not continue the previous years’ practice of making budget cuts in order to accommodate a national council tax freeze or the lowest possible increase.
“This budget invests in the areas that are most important to us,” he said.
“It prioritises those most in need and makes prudent and responsible investments to support our communities.
“It considers the impact of service reductions on the most vulnerable and the interdependencies between where we cut and where we focus our attention.”
Conversation