A bad winter could leave Fife’s transportation services in a bigger financial black hole.
Moves to tackle an overspend of more than £1.5 million in the local authority’s transportation and environmental services budget will be discussed by councillors next week.
The executive committee will hear that reduced levels of income from car parking charges and increased spending on fuel have contributed to the additional outlay.
The report also warns balancing the books could continue to prove challenging if the council has to deal with high costs associated with severe winter weather.
Transportation spokesman Pat Callaghan told The Courier: “Our priorities are to make sure that our roads and pavements are safe for Fifers all year round and that we manage the kingdom’s waste effectively.
“However, we live in challenging times and we have to continue to meet these priorities with diminishing resources.”
Transportation and environmental services are responsible for managing and maintaining the region’s roads network, providing supported public transport, concessionary travel and accessible transport, waste collection and recycling and looking after the council’s fleet of vehicles.
Now, in a bid to control the budget, measures including reducing routine roads and flooding maintenance and introducing charges for busier car parks like Ferrytoll Park and Ride currently free will be discussed at next week’s meeting.
Mr Callaghan added: “We took a decision earlier in the year not to go ahead with the annual parking charges in our town centres but this comes at a cost and the recommendation is to pay for this by cutting the road maintenance budget.
“It is also the case that the amount of revenue expected to come from charging has been falling in the last few years.
“The question is also being posed: should we be introducing a charge to cover the maintenance and running costs of some of the other park and ride facilities? Budgets will continue to be monitored closely.”