Council tax payers can expect a rise of around three per cent in Stafford next year.The increase is likely to mirror the level of inflation for the fourth year running. Plans will be put to Stafford Borough Council’s cabinet next Thursday.
Papers reveal that council tax will be kept at or below the rate of inflation and that a council tax increase of around three per cent will be proposed when the budget is finalised in early 2007.
This follows increases of 2.7per cent, three per cent and 2.4per cent in the previous three years - the period covered by the Council’s current Conservative administration.
Councillor Mike Heenan, Cabinet Member for Resources said: “We promised when we took control of the Council in 2003 to keep council tax at or below the rate of inflation and we have delivered on that for the last four years.
“This is a record result which has not happened before in any period since the council tax was introduced in 1991.
“All this has been achieved whilst at the same time improving front line services and keeping a close watch on costs of administration, which in a recent audit report were disclosed as being in the lowest quarter for similar councils in the country.”
He said that the council has been careful in how it spends tax payers money and has invested in services that the general public care about most - including improvements in street cleaning services and recycling collections.
Councillor Heenan added: “As council tax payers would expect we have set a tight budget this year which the officers of the council will need to manage carefully. We believe that local residents expect nothing less of us.”
Staffordshire County councillors are planning to increase the county’s proportion of council tax by four per cent next year. The authority has not yet been given any indication by central government as to the level of grant it will receive, but believe that by identifying £13million savings across all directorates they can keep increases below last year’s five per cent rise.
In 2004/05 the county’s proportion of council tax rocketed by 8.5 per cent, with a 5.5 per cent rise in 2005/06. The increase was was down to five per cent this financial year, 2006/07 - after the Government threatened to cap authorities whose rises were above that level.
The police and fire authorities, who precept separately have yet to give an indication on future rises.
Since 2003/04 the total council tax on an average Band D property has risen from £1,068 to £1,247.
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