At the same time, local authorities are being required to fund an ever-increasing number of services while their revenue is stagnant. Local authorities’ staff costs have also risen significantly, a rise attributable only in part to higher salaries for local authority employees and civil servants. Local authorities are responsible for a comprehensive range of social tasks, encompassing a wide variety of benefits and based predominantly on federal social security legislation. Another option open to local authorities is to improve their revenue base, for example through tax increases. Only property tax and business rates are local taxes for which local authorities have the power to set the assessment rate.