“I am very sorry that we found ourselves in a position where over the previous two budgets we had to take council tax increases that went through the usual referendum cap,” Cotton told the BBC.
“This is now a balanced budget, it’s a sustainable financial plan going forward,” he added.
“And also we know that even after some of the rises that we’ve had to take forward over the last couple of years, the average household council tax in Birmingham is still in the lower end of the league table.”
Speaking about the city’s ongoing bin strikes, Cotton reiterated that he wanted to find a solution and that the door remained open to “realistic proposals” from the Unite union.
“No-one is happy that this dispute is continuing, least of all myself as the…