INVERCLYDE Council has added its voice to the call for local authorities to be handed back the power to set local taxes.
In a submission to the Scottish Government's commission considering reform of the council tax, the Greenock-based authority said local democracy had been damaged by Finance Secretary John Swinney's decision to freeze bills in 2007.
The council argued the existing tax should be retained.
It said properties should be re-valued to update the 1991 valuations which form the basis of the present tax.
New bands should be added at the top and bottom of the scale, the council said, but overall the new-look tax should be "revenue neutral" across Scotland, raising the same amount as it does at present.
The council's Labour leader Stephen McCabe said: "The Council strongly believes that the retention of a modified Council Tax Scheme will provide continuity and minimise disruption."
He said collection rate of over 97 per cent showed the council tax was widely accepted.
The council's submission said: "Most fundamentally of all the council believes that there is a need to re-establish the link between local democratic accountability and the ability to vary tax rates at a local level.
"Even when Councils had the ability to vary the local tax rates Scotland had one of the lowest levels of locally determined tax in Europe and eight years of Council Tax freeze has exacerbated the situation further.
"In light of the unprecedented pressures on council finances there is a clear need for councils to be given the flexibility to vary local tax rates without the threat of punitive sanctions and giving councils back this power cannot wait until any replacement local taxation system is implemented."
The Scottish Government's commission is due to report on possible reforms or alternatives to the council tax in the autumn.
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