The average council tax increase this year will be around four per cent, the Local Government Association (LGA) has disclosed.
This would bring the typical bill for a Band D property to £1,145 per year, representing a rise almost double to that of the headline 2.1 per cent rate of inflation, but in line with the retail price index.
Council leaders said the reasons underlying the rise included: high levels of immigration affecting certain areas, costs associated with 24-hour licensing, charges for landfill and rises in costs for caring for older people.
Of the 102 councils in England, nine will implement a five per cent rise, including York, Solihull and Portsmouth, and the increases were criticised by shadow minister for local government Eric Pickles who said that "the hikes have been engineered in Whitehall, but leave councillors to take the blame".
Sir Simon Milton, the chairman of the LGA and leader of Westminster council, stated: "Some areas have found themselves short-changed because flows of migration have been underestimated, leaving them poorly equipped to deal with significant numbers of migrants.
"The only way to get local government finance on a stable footing would be root and branch reform of how councils are funded. Being allowed to keep more money that is raised locally would give councils much greater control over their budgets and make them genuinely answerable to voters."
Meanwhile local government minister John Healey was on Thursday set to tell MPs that householders could get council tax cuts of up to £101 per year if local authorities were more efficient in delivering services.
The 10 authorities which could potentially provide the largest cuts in the tax will be named by the government in a bid to make £4.9bn-worth of efficiency savings.
And the New Local Government Network (NLGN) think-tank has called on an increase in income tax for the super rich to aid the cutting of council tax bills.
In a new report it recommended the introduction of an extra income tax band of 10 per cent designed for those earning more than £200,000.
The NLGN also called for reforms that would include altering council tax in its present form and renaming it the local property levy.
