AN SNP councillor is having a council tax debt of around £4000 paid off by party colleagues, preventing her identity being revealed in a budget vote.
The SNP group on North Lanarkshire Council has agreed to use its own funds to clear the arrears, prompting accusations of special treatment and double standards.
Councillors are legally forbidden from taking part in budget votes if they owe the council on which the serve unpaid council tax.
North Lanarkshire’s budget is due to be set next Friday, and the woman’s identity, which has been kept a close secret, would have become obvious if she was absent.
She is one of four councillors who until recently owed the authority £20,000 between them, but is now the only one with a significant outstanding debt.
The SNP opposition on the Labour-run authority held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the situation, with a majority vote in favour of paying off the debt.
However the proposal, made by group leader David Stocks and deputy Tom Johnston, was strongly opposed by several members, with others abstaining.
The money will come from a fund normally used for council elections and by-elections, to which SNP councillors contribute a levy of £20 each month.
Understood to be one of ten female SNP councillors elected to the authority last year, the woman is believed to have agreed to repay the cash at £100 a month.
Because Labour is expected to pass its budget with Tory or Independent support, the SNP councillor’s absence would be unlikely to affect the outcome of the vote.
However her identification could embarrass the party and any local MSPs or MPs who endorsed her as a candidate.
All prospective candidates are meant to declare anything which might embarrass the party.
Independent councillor Alan Beveridge said no member of the public who owed the council £4000 would have their debt paid off like the councillor.
He said: “Ordinary citizens don’t get bailed out. If I was a bin man and I worked for the council and owed them that much, they be arresting my wages. It’s not right.”
A Labour source added: “It seems to be one rule for the politicians and another for ordinary members of the public who would not have access to those funds. This is the first instance I have heard of where a party council group has stepped in to cover a bill.”
Last year it emerged Scots councillors owed more than £140,000 in historic council tax debt.
The BBC used freedom of information law to establish 32 councillors in 13 local authorities owed the money, with eight in Glasgow owing £52,000 between them.
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: “Elected members who are in council tax arrears are forbidden by law from voting on the council budget.
“We don’t comment on individual cases, however all council tax payers are treated equally in the approach to arrears and we would urge anyone struggling with council tax to approach us as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the SNP group in North Lanarkshire said: “SNP councillors in North Lanarkshire make a personal monthly contribution to group funds. It’s entirely appropriate for us to use group funds to help one another."
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