TOWN hall bosses expect to lose out on £5 million in unpaid council tax this year — enough to run its five closed libraries and the now defunct Animal World for another 10 years.

Bolton Council accountants have been grappling with more than £100 million-worth of cuts to the authority’s budget since 2011 — and they hoped to make £1.6 million by raising council tax this year.

But critics say the “unnecessary” rates hike by the council — the only authority in Greater Manchester to increase the tax — has only made matters worse.

The council saved £400,000 from the budget by closing five libraries in 2012, and a further £80,000 when it shut Animal World last year — amounting to about £500,000 a year.

Cllr Ebrahim Adia, the executive cabinet member for regeneration and resources, said the council would use “all options available” to recover the money.

He added: “The debts may take many years to recover, but we will pursue it as long as it is appropriate.

“The key point is that we always manage to achieve, if not exceed, our targets each year that we set regarding council tax revenue, and we use all options available to collect outstanding council tax from previous years.”

The council is still owed £7.7 million from unpaid bills over the past four years.

It was the only authority in Greater Manchester to raise council tax this year — increasing it by 1.2 per cent, with a total increase of 3.5 per cent including transport, waste, fire and police.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats in Bolton said the decision to raise council tax only hindered people’s ability to pay.

Cllr Roger Hayes added: “The figure for the current year is expected to be £5 million.

“It has been made worse by the Labour council’s unnecessary decision to increase council tax in April — the only Greater Manchester council that decided to put this extra burden on hard-pressed residents.

“I am glad the council has decided to use all avenues, including a check of the electoral register to identify those who are avoiding paying what they should.”

Residents who do not pay their council tax can face court action or bailiffs if they fail to reach a payment arrangement with the council.

The Bolton News is battling to name a Labour councillor who was summoned to court after failing to pay council tax on time.

Tory councillor Mudasir Dean has already admitted to not paying the charge promptly and was questioned by police, before they judged his conduct had not breached the law.

The council has slashed its budget by more than £100 million since 2011, resulting in the loss of 1,350 jobs. It must make further savings of £63 million between 2015 and 2018.