11:58am Tuesday 9th February 2010
By Oliver Evans
THE average Wycombe council tax bill is set to rise by about £28 from April, it was revealed last night.
The four authorities which take from the final bill want to set lower increases than last year, with an average band D bill rising from £1,390.34 to £1,418.16.
Wycombe District Council last night proposed a 1.75 per cent increase on a band D property, an increase from £124.77 to £126.99.
This is the lowest percentage increase of the other authorities, the two other district councils that serve south Buckinghamshire and fire and police.
Yet the figure will vary according the where people live in the district as parish councils also levy charges.
See the link at the bottom of this story for a full table of proposed costs and instructions on how to work out how much you’ll pay.
The Government has demanded councils keep increases to a maximum three per cent as residents struggle with the effects of the recession.
Councillor Roger Wilson, responsible for finance, said ‘there is a lot of pain out there’ and the authority had to account for ‘hardships’.
He told WDC’s cabinet last night: “It has been a tough time, we have a tough period and, in fact, I think this budget is what I would call a rock and a hard place.”
The authority is expecting ‘savage cuts’ in cash support from Government, he said.
Other pressures were a drop in income from services such as car parks, he said, and the Government ‘underfunding’ free bus travel for the elderly, with WDC picking up the cost.
The authority says £889,300 will be saved next year through measures including redundancies and deleting empty posts.
Savings will also come through that were put in place this year, such as cutting hours and moving tourist information centres and slashing grants to voluntary groups.
Controversial cuts for this year included the closure of Holywell Mead outdoor swimming pool and sale of nearby conference facility Bassetsbury Manor, for £1.2m.
Council house rents will go up 1.06 per cent, about an extra 88p a week, and a £616,400 ‘transformation’ fund will be earmarked for cash-saving projects suggested by staff.
People living elsewhere in Buckinghamshire will pay to one of two other district councils.
Chiltern District Council is proposing a 2.5 per cent increase, £155.61 to £159.50 for band D.
South Bucks District Council wants a 2 per cent rise, from £140.15 to £143.
Buckinghamshire County Council, which is responsible for services including schools, social services and roads, is proposing a two per cent increase, from £1,056.61 to £1,077.74.
Leader David Shakespeare told The Bucks Free Press he had planned a 2.5 per cent to re-instate threatened pothole cash after a public outcry.
Yet last-minute figures which show there are more new homes, increasing the number of people who pay council tax, had filled the gap, he said. Pay has been frozen for all staff.
Cllr Shakespeare said: “This year’s budget has been technically more difficult than any I have ever known. There are so many unknowns, so many variables.”
More focus on looked after children in the wake of the Baby P scandal, new rules entitling most vulnerable OAPs to free home care and the roads bill had hit budgets, he said.
And he said of its gritting operations: “I can’t promise anybody at all, if we have the same circumstances, that there will be lots of spare gritters to go into the estates.”
Thames Valley Police Authority is proposing 2 per cent, £151.27 to £154.30 and Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is bidding for 2.5 per cent, £57.69 to £59.13.
All have to be agreed this month.
How to work out much you’ll pay: click the link below and find the cost aligned to your area and council tax band (band D only). Then add £1,291.17.
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