"Tough questions" will be asked over a proposed 4.99pc council tax rise for families in Norfolk - and about £60m of cuts and savings at Norfolk County Council.
The Conservative-controlled council will set its budget later this month, with the mooted council tax hike due to add between £51 and £152 a year to annual bills for people across the county.
The budget also includes millions of pounds of savings, including closing Mayton Wood recycling centre near Coltishall, reducing stops on the county's mobile library service and dimming more street lights.
Plans to shut recycling centres on Wednesdays, which had prompted controversy, have been scrapped.
But the proposals also include what Tom McCabe, the council's head of paid service, said would be "significant job losses", through £17m of savings identified after consultants were brought in to County Hall to conduct a strategic review.
The number of jobs at risk has yet to be revealed. The council has said there will be some compulsory redundancies, although it hopes to avoid them.
But before the budget-setting meeting on Tuesday, January 21, the council's scrutiny committee will quiz councillors and officers about the proposals.
And Steve Morphew, leader of the opposition Labour group and chair of the scrutiny committee, said: "Scrutiny before the budget council is the culmination of meetings through the year, where this committee gets to ask detailed questions.
"It’s the best and only real chance for tough questions to be put to cabinet members and senior officers by other councillors.
"This is the toughest of tough years, so the public of Norfolk will expect searching questions about the money they are being asked to pay in council tax and whether it is being spent to best effect."
The committee will meet on Wednesday, February 15.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here