Sponsored by
More money to pay for council services
Ratepayers face a council tax rise to protect frontline services.
People in Gamlingay, the Hatleys and the Gransdens can expect to pay South Cambs District Council an extra £5 per year for the average Band D property.
The rise, which will be discussed by the cabinet on Monday, will help offset the reduced support from central government.
Government grant funding is set to be cut by 24 per cent in the next financial year. This will reduce the council’s financial pot by an average of £17 per household.
The council will try to make further savings to reduce the need for £12 of this and the £5 tax rise will make up the remainder of the £17 needed to balance the books.
Councillor Simon Edwards, South Cambs District Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said: “We are immensely proud that our council tax is one of the lowest in the country and the value for money it represents for residents.
“The budget we have put forward will see us absorbing 70 per cent of the cuts through efficiencies but we are also asking residents to pay a little more to make sure frontline services they rely on are protected.
“Without a rise in council tax now we would also be storing up a problem in our budget for future years which could lead to sharper rises and this is something we want to avoid.”
Frontline services include bin collections, planning advice and housing.
The council is declining the government’s offer of a two year grant equivalent to a one per cent rise in return for freezing council tax.
This is the district council’s first council tax increase in three years.
Councillors have accepted the government’s larger grants for freezing tax in previous years but accepting this grant would leave the council short of another £7 per home in two years’ time.
People living in Gamlingay and the surrounding villages will also have to pay an extra 1.99 per cent council tax to Cambridgeshire County Council during the next financial year.
South Cambs’ cabinet will consider the proposed budget on Monday before it is presented to all councillors on Thursday, February 28.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Biggleswade
Sunday 26 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 5 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South west
