The cash-strapped authority has sparked public fury after it emerged that it is pumping £210,000 into printing and distributing the monthly Northumberland News to over 140,000 homes in the region.
It comes at the same time as the ruling Liberal De
mocrat executive is considering axing day care centres for the elderly to save around £400,000 from its forthcoming budget, which must be slashed by up to £30million to balance the books in 2010/11.
Conservatives at County Hall have now decided to boycott the publication, which they say was "rammed through" by the administration without recourse to a full vote by members.
The party's leader, Coun Peter Jackson, said: "Not only is this magazine not welcomed by residents but it has already been seen as a complete waste of council taxpayers' money.
"This could not have been introduced at a worse time when budget cuts are forcing the council to take away essential care services from the older, vulnerable and dependant members of our community.
"The estimated annual costs are in excess of £200,000 per year and even this figure has been questioned by professionals in the news business as being an underestimate, as it does not include internal compilation costs."
He added: "There is a need for communication of council information. However those residents who have taken the trouble to read the first edition of the magazine have commented to me that it seems to contain little in the way of information and a great deal of propaganda which is more designed to boost the profiles of the Lib Dem administration rather than to be genuinely useful to residents.
"To make things worse the new magazine has been introduced with no consultation with the other political groups on the council and without any form of formal approval.
"Northumberland County Council needs to get its priorities right and concentrate on providing better levels of service and better value for money.
"Frittering away taxpayers' money in this manner is completely unacceptable. No wonder people resent paying such high rates of council tax when there is clear evidence that it is being wasted."
Alnwick's Independent ward councillor, Gordon Castle, said: "At a time when we are being asked to make serious budgetary cuts which will directly impact on council services, spending this kind of money on a magazine could be seen as profligate.
"Not a single person I have talked to in my ward has said they support the magazine and I very much regret that the administration didn't involve all parties in a debate about how this should be done. Had we been asked, we would have gone for a lower-cost, less frequent alternative."
He added: "I have been asked to place my surgery notices in the magazine and have declined. I would very much rather support the local newspaper which I am confident reaches a far wider audience."
Rothbury councillor Steven Bridgett, who is Liberal Democrat but not aligned to the administration, said: "I do not want to be taking business away from the private sector press in Northumberland, especially as we are supposed to be supporting businesses given the current economic climate.
"Northumberland-based newspapers employ over 100 people and any loss of revenue, including the poaching of private and public sector advertising, could have a devastating impact and result in a loss of jobs."
But the Liberal Democrat executive remains adamant that the magazine is good value for money.
Council leader Jeff Reid said: "We have to make improvements to the way in which we communicate with residents and we have to make substantial savings on our communications budget and that's just what we are doing.
"There is no political motive to the magazine, all senior politicians are given the opportunity to have input, we are merely keeping residents informed.
"We believe the magazine is the most cost effective way of communicating directly and regularly with all county residents."
North Northumberland MP Sir Alan Beith added: "Local authorities controlled by all the different political parties across the country use magazines delivered to every household to provide information on council services.
"One came through the door of my London flat from the Conservative-controlled Westminster City Council this week.
"Clearly local newspapers also have an important role and they are going through a very difficult time at the moment but there is no reason why local papers and council magazines cannot exist side by side."
