Council tax in Surrey going up (From Redhill And Reigate Life)

Council tax in Surrey going up

4:16pm Monday 13th February 2012 in News

Council tax across Surrey is to go up this year.

Surrey County Council last week confirmed it was saying no to the Government's call for another council tax freeze and turning down the Coalition's offer of money.

Instead, the meeting of the Full Council agreed, as expected, to increase council tax by 2.99% in April.

According to the council, the increase will mean an extra £33.38 a year, or 64p a week, on a Band D property in Surrey.

The council pointed out that the rise is well below the current rate of inflation, which was 4.8% in November going by the Consumer Price Index.

The increase goes against the Government's call for local authorities to observe a council tax freeze.

Recently, it said its figures indicated more than 140 councils in England would not be putting bills up.

The Government has offered money to local authorities promising to freeze the tax and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles criticised local authorities who had said they would put council tax bills up in April, saying they would be effectively delivering a “kick in the teeth” to hard working tax-payers.

But Surrey County Council leader David Hodge said accepting the Coalition Government's grant would “imperil” the council's “financial stability in years to come."

Coun Hodge said: “For many other councils in the country, the Government offer is a good one.

“But after exhaustive analysis, my cabinet and I believe that this one-off council tax grant is not in the medium to long-term interest of Surrey residents.”

He added: "We must do what is right for the residents of Surrey over the long-term and not accept short-term assistance that will imperil our financial stability in years to come."

Last month, the county council said it was set to take the stand against the Coalition to save Surrey from a £70 million “financial black hole.”

A county council spokesman said the authority was set to reject the Government’s freeze because it would lead to the hole in finances over five years – the sum being equivalent to wiping out Surrey’s road maintenance budget for more than two years.

The Government has offered all councils a one-off grant of 2.5% for 2012 to 2013 if they freeze council tax for another year.

But the council spokesman said this would mean that Surrey would be down £14 million in every year after the one-year grant ends.