Council tax plans revealed
COUNCIL tax is expected to rise by 2.65% and the price of meals on wheels is set go up by 10p per meal. But car parking charges and school meals all look set to stay the same next year under the council plans.
COUNCIL tax is expected to rise by 2.65% in one of Wales’ most populous counties, and the price of meals on wheels is set go up by 10p per meal.
But car parking charges, gym membership and school meals all look set to stay the same next year under the plans revealed by Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council.
A standard 1.7% increase is on the table for fees and services for the next financial year, but some will be frozen and some will go up by different amounts.
The fees set to be kept the same include membership of Leisure for Life, car park charges, school meals (with the price frozen until 2023), Pontypridd Lido, Rhondda Heritage Park, bereavement fees, and summer and winter playing fees for sports clubs.
The price of meals on wheels and day centre meals will go up by 10p per meal and will then be frozen until 2023.
The current meal price is £3.95 and the proposal is for the price of both to be increased to £4.05.
A report set to go before RCT council’s cabinet said that prices across Wales currently range between £3.30 and £5.65.
The proposals, if agreed, would reduce council income by £185,000 but the report said the council has considered the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and recovery work as a result of Storm Dennis with the aim being to “continue to provide a comprehensive range of quality services at affordable prices”.
The council has already made decisions on some fees including non-residential adult social care services, which will increase from £90 to £100 a week.
Fines for environmental offences such as littering are already set at £100, licence fees for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) have already been set for the period between 2019-20 and 2023-24 and there has already been a 25% reduction to all council bereavement fees incurred by families of war veterans and service men and women resident in RCT.
At the same meeting, cabinet will be asked to recommend its budget to full council for approval which includes a proposed council tax increase of 2.65%.
This means around an extra £26 per year for a person living in a Band A property and around an extra £39 per year for a person living in a Band D property.
At the moment, 42% of properties in Rhondda Cynon Taf are in Band A.
The schools budget is set to go up by £2.2m from £161.6m to £163.8m.
The council has identified £4.6m worth of cuts.
But it plans to invest £50,000 in continuing its local business rate relief scheme, £100,000 into climate change and carbon reduction, £200,000 to appoint six further graduates over the existing commitment, £50,000 towards well-being support for staff, £200,000 in extra resources for public health and protection, £50,000 towards flood prevention support and £75,000 to manage overgrowth.
Welsh Government announced a 3.8% (£172m) increase in funding for RCT in the provisional settlement in December with the final settlement expected next month.
The council plans to use £709,000 from its transitional funding reserve to plug the remaining budget gap.