SALISBURY City council, which has overspent by around £800k in the last two years, should "take ownership of the mess it has made", according to the leader of Wiltshire Council.
The parish council has almost exhausted its reserves and will go bankrupt this year if it continues to spend at the rate it has been in previous years.
Councillor Richard Clewer, leader of Wiltshire Council, said Salisbury City Council must take "some pretty stringent action".
During a full council meeting on Monday, June 24, Cllr Annie Riddle, who forms part of Salisbury's administration, said the issue been underlying for the past eight years.
Cllr Clewer said: "They [council staff] still seem to be in denial about how they have got where they are.
"This was obvious two years ago, it was obvious with the 44 per cent precept hike. But they weren’t controlling costs, they were running away with every bit of vanity project, and they have been doing it since 2021.
"The administration has not been focused on what it wants to do, it has been trying to do everything. If you don’t control your costs, they escalate and get out of hand control and that is where they have got to."
Read more: Salisbury City Council faces bankruptcy if it continues to overspend
Cllr Clewer is unsure whether central government would ask WC step in to help but he thinks it's possible for the parish council to "pull its budget together" by making serious cuts now.
He added: "You start by cutting anything that’s non-statutory. In Salisbury’s case, most of what they do isn’t statutory.
"They have got an awful lot of staff, so that would be an obvious place you could look. Cutting staff comes with short-term costs even though you can get a long-term saving from it."
CEO Asa Thorpe said the "challenging financial period" his parish council faces is a situation familiar to a number of councils.
Despite this, the leadership team is confident of ensuring the financial sustainability of the council in the immediate and medium term.
"We are the largest parish council in England and will have to report our finances in a new and more comprehensive way; a first for Salisbury and small councils," said Mr Thorpe.
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A new senior management team has been employed to work with elected councillors to "navigate fiscal challenge" and help them make choices which "delivery quality services and make financial sense".
"A programme of savings, refocusing on the basics, and protecting areas which generate non-council tax income are the priorities for the coming months," added Mr Thorpe.
"We will look to protect general reserves whilst wisely using increased balances in our capital programme, community infrastructure levy and section 106 contributions."
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