HOUSEHOLDERS in York are being warned they could face council tax misery next year.

Finance chiefs at City of York Council fear there may have to be a hike in charges to balance the books and pay for service improvements.

The Evening Press has learned that if a central government grant, handed out to pay for council services, is poor, the council could be forced to bring in "a significant increase".

The grant, known as the Standard Spending Assessment, is officially revealed to councils in December.

But officers at the council will be able to estimate what they will receive, using the Government's calculating formula, sometime in the next two weeks.

Simon Wiles, the council's acting director of resources, is behind the warning as the authority unveiled a video on its priorities for next year's budget.

He said the authority was doing all it could to prevent a council tax rise. He said: "This year the council is facing tough decisions about spending priorities.

"As one of the lowest-funded local authorities of our type, the money we get from central Government will not enable us to carry out improvements to services without a significant increase in council tax.

"Although the council continues to be one of the lowest spending authorities per head of population, the pressures the council faces have resulted from having comparatively lower Government funding than other local authorities of our type and keeping the council tax at one of the lowest in the area.

"We are continuing to lobby central Government to reassess our grant award, but the council will have to decide on budget priorities for next year before any changes can take effect."

Updated: 11:45 Tuesday, October 09, 2001