Caerphilly County Borough residents will face a 6.95% council tax hike after councillors agreed to cuts worth nearly £14 million.
Schools, libraries and highways budgets will be hit, with public toilets across the borough due to close in the coming year.
Planned cuts to community centres, the council’s meals on wheels service, community safety wardens, waste recycling centres, and tourist attractions have been reduced or deferred until next year.
Council leader David Poole said the Labour-run authority had already “taken the low how hanging fruit” having cut £52.4 million in the last five years.
But the cutbacks were attacked by opposition councillors, with Plaid Cymru group leader Colin Mann saying: “We are blessed with an administration that yet again is charging more for less.
“The proposed council tax increase is almost four times the rate of inflation. We have to go back to the last century, to 1998/99, to find a comparable increase imposed, of course, by Labour.”
The rise in council tax will see Band D properties paying an extra £73.51 per year or £1.41 a week.
Cllr Mann claimed Plaid has asked officers to look at alternative ways of delivering services, but the group was criticised by Labour councillors for not presenting their own savings proposals.
Labour councillor Gary Johnston said: “It’s like Groundhog Day. It’s the same nonsense from Plaid that everything is wrong with the budget, but not one year have they come up with an alternative.”
Councillor Kevin Etheridge, leader of the Independents, said the council tax hike was too high while also raising concerns about cuts to school improvement budgets.
Complaints about a rise in council tax were questioned by Labour councillor Jamie Pritchard who said the Plaid-controlled Caerphilly town council had raised its precept by more than 10%.
Plaid councillor Steve Kemp said the rise equated to 12.5p a month, adding: “We’ve had to raise it because of funding cuts from the authority.”
Deferred budget cuts to Bargoed Ice Rink and Senghenydd Splash Pad were welcomed by Plaid councillor Lyndon, but he said decision was a “stay of execution”.
But the council’s leader Cllr Poole said a balanced budget had been presented with a ‘minimal’ impact on frontline services and one that reflected public views.
“A 6.95% council tax increase is proposed and whilst this is higher than previous year, important, the public understand the need for the increase,” said Cllr Poole.
“The majority are willing to pay a little more in order to protect the services which they value so much.”
Cllr Poole told councillors that further cuts of £44 million could be expected by 2023/24, adding: “The continued squeeze on our finances is set within a societal context of increasing demands for social care, housing and education.
“We are facing difficult times but myself and the cabinet have a desire not to survive these times but to thrive within them.”
The final vote saw 41 councillors in favour of the 2019/20 budget, with 17 against.