A Brierley town councillor has called for the council to be dissolved to clear debts of more than £1million.
Eddie Devoy blasted the council at its annual meeting last week and said it should fold and start again debt-free.
"If Brierley Town Council was a private company it would be trading while insolvent which is against the law," he said.
"Wouldn't that (dissolving) be the best thing for the people of this parish to get rid of the debt?"
Mr Devoy argued Barnsley Council should foot the bill instead, with a clean slate for a new Brierley council.
"If it's a fresh council they can't be held for the debt of the previous one. It's common courtesy but we can say not we're not paying it."
But mayor of the town council Tony Parkinson, said local taxpayers would still be charged for the shortfall even if the council was to dissolve.
He said services provided by Brierley Town Council had been 'curtailed' by financial cutbacks but said Barnsley Council did not approve of the abolition of any parish council.
If councillors resigned, Barnsley Council would look to find new people to take their place, he said.
Local resident Bob Weldon said Brierley residents would refuse to pay taxes towards the running of the council if they could not vote for the council to fold.
He said in 2010 more than 800 people in Brierley signed a petition saying they no longer wanted a town council for the village.
The meeting was told how £480,000 had been borrowed from Barnsley Council in 2010 to cover building work commissioned by the town council and which it has not started to pay back.
Mr Parkinson said after the meeting the money had been taken to cover building work on the welfare hall and Lifestyles Gym in Grimethorpe, which at the time councillors thought they had grants to pay for.
Excluding land, the council has a total of £1.25 million in assets which could be used offset the debt, he said.
These include the Lifestyles building, the welfare hall and Park House in Grimethorpe. Land sales would also be considered, he added.
Mr Parkinson said the council has outstanding leases of £92,000 to pay. This includes the leasing of a tractor, grounds maintenance equipment and hedge cutting equipment.
