Borough council add £5 to share of council tax

HOUSEHOLDERS can expect to pay a total of £5 more this year for the borough’s share of the 2018/19 council tax levy.

The increase, based on a Band D property, will be added to the £70-a-year hike (six per cent Band D total £1,242.60 up from £1,172.38 last year) planned by Leicestershire County Council, along with relevant parish precepts plus any additional fee for the police and county fire and rescue service.

The borough figure remains the same as last term and stems from a Government decision to allow historically low taxing district authorities to raise the service charge by £5 between 2016 and 2019.

It takes the 2018/19 borough portion to around £127 a year.

Looking ahead Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council chiefs are looking towards a three per cent increase, again a figure Government has stipulated.

The green waste bin charge, controversial when first implemented three years ago, remains at £24 and is unlikely to go up.

Council leader Mike Hall said: “Three years ago we inherited a budget where there was a forecasted £1.7 million shortfall and no decisions had been made as to how that would be fixed.

“Council tax had not gone up because at the time Government was paying councils not to increase it but these grants had ended.

“A proposal to introduce a £35 green waste bin charge had been put off and it was clear Leicestershire County Council was under pressure so there would be no continuation of grants for such things as recycling and green waste collections.

“We had to make some tough decisions such as introducing the garden waste fee and raising council tax by £5.

“But our medium term financial strategy now shows we shouldn’t have to take any more tough decisions for the next five years.

“We won’t have to increase the £24 bin charge and we are anticipating an extra £5 a year on council tax until 2020/21 when we predict it will be an inflationary increase of around three per cent.

“We have a balanced budget which I am really pleased about and we are in a much better situation than we were.”

A bigger than expected income from business rates has enabled the council to create a number of reserves, including one to deal with staff wages in light of the Living Wage increments, the continuing Developing Communities Fund for capital projects in the parishes, a new Hinckley Development Fund and protection of the long-standing Parish Community Initiative Fund.