Hopes of a lower council tax bill

A council tax increase proposed for Wyre Forest residents could be lower than expected.

Worcestershire County Council had been considering a 3.5 per cent increase but has now proposed only a 2.94 per cent rise.

It would add £28.85 pence a year to the bill for a Band D property – up from £984.77 to £1,013.62 pence.

Councillor Adrian Hardman said the Government had confirmed there would be no change in the amount of grant the authority would receive in the coming year towards day-to-day running of services such as schools, social care, road maintenance and waste management.

But, he said, revised figures from the district councils had persuaded county finance chiefs to recommend a lower increase on bills set to go out to householders in March.

He said: "In an ideal world at this time of the worst economic crisis we have seen in generations, we would prefer to not even be raising council tax at all, or maybe cutting it, since we are aware of the effects that the very low rates of interest will be having on some people. On the other hand rising unemployment levels are creating pressure as council tax-payers struggle to find work to pay the household bills.

"But that could mean cutting services."