Tory politicians have claimed that Bath and North East Somerset Council could avoid some of the cuts to services it is planning because it has more money than it expected.
But the Liberal Democrat-run authority says that a one-off £1.6 million surplus and an ongoing £1.4 million bonus do not offer a panacea in the face of unprecedented Government funding cuts.
It says it will be facing a 26 per cent cut in Government funding in the 2015/16 financial year.
The authority has reduced spending on public toilets, libraries, advice services and children's centres, but is better off because it is expecting to collect £1.1 million more in council tax than planned and has received £450,000 more from the Government than it budgeted for.
Opposition Conservatives have launched an online survey to ask the public how they think the "unexpected windfall" should be spent, ahead of a crunch budget meeting in February.
The survey is at www.bathconservativesurveys.com.
Conservative resources spokesman, Councillor Charles Gerrish, said: "As a result of improving economic conditions, more houses being built, and a better than anticipated funding settlement from Government, B&NES is now expecting to have more in the coming year than it had previously thought."
He said there was enough to fill 100,000 potholes, employ 150 children's centre outreach workers, buy 50 new dial-a-ride buses, or take 4.5 per cent off council tax bills.
The council has already said it will be using £500,000 of the £1.4 million tranche to soften the blow of cuts to children's centres.
Mr Gerrish said: "Obviously the council will continue to face challenges in the years ahead, but I think residents will be pretty surprised to hear that B&NES has far more money available than it had been letting on.
"Some of this money may need to be put aside to protect against further cuts in future, but it is not good financial management for the Lib Dems to simply sit on a pile of money until election year when vital services are being cut now and fees and charges are being hiked.
"Therefore, we are asking local residents for their views on how this money could best be used to ensure the council acts on the priorities of B&NES residents, and would urge local people to go online to complete our budget survey."
A statement from B&NES said: "Because the council has been innovative and efficient in delivering our services there is a surplus available to use for local priorities. There is a £1.6 million one-off surplus from last year – this money can only be spent once so cannot be used to fund ongoing services. The cabinet will report how they propose to allocate this money at the February budget meeting.
"There is also a £1.4 million ongoing surplus. The cabinet has already announced a proposal to use £500,000 for early years 0-11 services to reduce the £2.3 million savings target. They will also propose an additional £100,000 for public protection services. In light of the council planning for a Government grant reduction of £7 million (equivalent to a cut of 26 per cent) for 2015/16, the remainder will be proposed to help meet the resulting budget gap and go towards balancing our budgets which supports us to deliver the council tax freezes that residents have received for the past three years and in future years."
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