Council tax : Nottinghamshire County Council proposes 2.99% increase
Householders will be paying more council tax if Nottinghamshire County Council's budget is approved.
A 2.99% increase in council tax is recommended together with a further 2% adult social care precept on top.
The increase will mean the majority of householders will contribute just under £1 a week extra to their average bill.
Councillor Richard Jackson, chairman of the finance and major contracts committee at County Hall said he regretted the increase, but cuts in Government funding and growing pressures on social care services influenced the decision.
He said: “I was proud to be part of the last Conservative administration at Nottinghamshire County Council, which froze council tax every year from 2009 to 2013.
"We put in place huge, transformational programmes to eradicate waste and engrain a value-for-money culture, which has saved £255m in running costs since 2010.
“There is always more we can do – and will continue to do – so that we are more efficient and provide better value for taxpayers.
"But we’re being squeezed more than ever before by the spiralling costs of providing social care for older people and children and significant, on-going reductions in what the Government gives us to provide services to local people.
"This has left us facing a predicted budget shortfall of £55m by 2021/22, despite what we have already saved.
“Regretfully this means we must ask local people to pay more to keep these services going.
"We don’t want to increase council tax, the public doesn’t want us to increase council tax, but we simply have no choice if we’re going to continue to protect social care services and, in turn, prevent further strain on the NHS.”
Reduction in Government funding
The adult social care precept and council tax increase will raise £16.4m for local public services.
However, this still falls short of the £21.8m reduction in Government funding the county council says it faces next year.
The 2.99% increase in council tax was suggested after the government increased their cap on what councils could charge from 2% to 3% without triggering a local referendum.
The county council proposes spending an additional £20m in its highways capital programme from 2018/19 to 2021/22.
Highways investment will be focused on roads assessed as being likely to deteriorate in the next few years on a ‘right repair at the right time’ basis, with a view to saving money that would have been required for repairs in the longer term.
Highways investment
Roads in residential areas will be targeted, which could include schemes to improve the road surface and new safety features where they are required such as pedestrian crossings and interactive speed signs.
Councillor Jackson said: “We’ve listened to local people’s priorities and I’m proud to announce that we’re investing an additional £20m in the county’s highways network over the next four years.
“Many of the roads we will be targeting will have not seen any meaningful work to them in years.
“With 2,600 miles of roads in our network, we know this money won’t solve every problem.
"But it is a good start and sets us in the right direction when it comes to getting the quality, safer road network for Nottinghamshire we all want.”
The finance and major contracts committee meets on February 6 to consider the report. The final budget will be set at full council on February 28.
Householders pay council tax to the county, the district or borough council and the town or parish in which they live and to the police and fire authorities.
