Proposed increase to council tax would still be lowest in the county

ABC reveal draft budget for April 2017 to March ‘18

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) is inviting people to express their views on its draft budget, which includes details about council tax increases over the next few years.

Low taxing authorities, such as Ashford, now have a choice of increasing the level at which their council tax is set – either 2% or £5, whichever is greater.

However, ABC cabinet members have proposed to raise it by only £4 a year for the average Band D property in the borough for the 2017-18 financial year.

On a Band D property this equates to under 8p per week and is a lower increase than last year.

Even if every Kent district authority elects to freeze council tax for the 2017-18 financial year, Ashford’s would still be the lowest in the county by £5.93.

However, the announcement by George Osbourne, then Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, in his 2015 budget that local councils must apply a 1% reduction in social housing rents in each of the next four financial years has meant there was an identified shortfall in its housing revenue account (HRA) into which rent paid by tenants and the repairs and maintenance of the council’s housing stock is saved.

A £10 million shortfall in revenue was identified with steps taken to mitigate its effects.

The draft budget has now been formally proposed for the year from April 2017 to March 2018 following a cabinet meeting in December.

The draft budget will now be considered by ABC’s overview and scrutiny committee, which examines services provided by the council and reviews the council’s budget and policies.

This committee, made up of 12 non-cabinet members, can recommend changes or make points for reconsideration.

The budget follows the key points of the council’s five-year Corporate Plan to 2020, and will be considered by the full council in February 2017.

ABC has been accurate in its forecasts that the government has intended to further reduce the money available to local authorities.

The formula grant, which is traditionally the largest sum of money that the council used to receive from central government to help deliver its services, has reduced by 40% in the last six years and will be reduced to zero by the 2019-20 financial year.

ABC has anticipated this issue and restated its aim to be selfsufficient.

How every £1 in your council tax is spent