Medway council finance chiefs have defended steps to raise council tax for a third year running, blaming swingeing cuts to government funding.

The council's draft 2015/16 budget, released this week, outlines steps to yet again raise council tax by 1.99% - the maximum amount the council can raise without triggering a referendum.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has previously labelled councils as "democracy dodgers" for doing just that, rather than take the government's "freeze grant" in exchange for not raising tax.

But Cllr Alan Jarrett, deputy leader and portfolio holder for finance, said taking the grant made no sense.

"They offer a freeze grant that doesn't cover what we need," he said. "Then he says if you don't take the freeze grant you're democracy dodgers. Well, we're not democracy dodgers actually because we've been elected. If anyone's dodging anything it's him."

Freezing council tax only recognised "one side of the equation" and took "no account of service delivery," he added.

"We need the money," said Medway's chief finance officer Mick Hayward. "The government give us a cheque each year called the revenue support grant. This year's cheque is worth 15 million quid less than last year's cheque and it is the principle cause of the draft deficit that we've been projecting."

That deficit amounts to £12m, and Mr Hayward said there had been some "frenetic activity" during January in an effort to bridge the funding gap before the budget deadline.

He said there was an "inherent nonsense" to taking Mr Pickles' freeze grant, adding: "for those authorities that he has provided a freeze grant to, he has consolidated it into the revenue support grant, which he then takes away."

Despite the rise, Medway Council insists its residents pay the lowest council tax in Kent, while it receives less government funding than other similar sized authorities.

The 1.99% rise would bring the average Band D home council tax bill up by £23 a year - or 45p a week - to £1,187.46 per year.

Alongside increasing council tax the council has had to find a raft of savings to bridge the funding gap.

The draft budget will go before the council's cabinet next week before being rubber-stamped at a full council meeting at the end of the month.

Full report in this week's Medway's Messenger.