Council Tax increases

This is the time of year when the council makes a decision on the level of increase in council tax. It is based on the amount of grant we get from government and the spending pressures we have. For as long as I can remember Cambridgeshire has always received an increase in government grant that is much smaller than most other authorities and this year was no different. At just 2% we were almost bottom - yet again. This means that the burden falls on the council tax payer. Our inflation pressures are similar to many of our residents - rising energy costs being the main one, but our rising population also means that we have to find money to pay for extra services. The council has looked hard at where savings can be made and next week will be proposing an increase in council tax of 3.9%. I can fully appreciate that this is above the rate of inflation and in the current economic recession might be seen as a large rise, but we will continue to have to make hard choices. As a gesture councillors have also decided to forgo their increase in allowance this year, which would have been 2.7%