Council tax to go up an average of £50-plus
Lively council meeting sees leaders clash
Council tax bills will rise by £50-plus for an average property – and with police, fire and parish precepts yet to be announced.
Council tax bills will be going up this year following a vote last week by Scarborough Borough Council. Scarborough Council voted to increase its share of the council tax by 2.31%, the equivalent of £5 for a Band D property, in its budget for 2017/18.
It is the maximum increase allowed without having to hold a referendum and it is the second year running the authority has raised its share of the precept.
Last month, North Yorkshire County Council voted to approve an increase in general council tax from April by 1.99% along with a 2% social care precept.
The council’s financial strategy is based on a similar 3.99% increase each year up to 2020 in order to prioritise frontline services.
The cost to the average band D household will be an additional £45.64 per year (£3.80 per month or 88p per week).
The borough council makes up 13% of the precept, compared to almost 70% for the county council.
During the meeting on Friday the borough council also set its budget for the forthcoming year, which has the seen the council have to make savings of close to £2 million following cuts to grants, with some redundancies of staff possible.
The factious and, at times, bad-tempered meeting descended into a row divided along political party lines.
The Labour groups and the Greens, together with the one UKIP councillor in attendance, opposed the budget set by the ruling Conservatives.
Labour leader, Cllr Steve Siddons, said: “We continue to note that though council tax payers will continue to play their part in paying to retain local services the Government, effectively, continues to cut our local services.
“Government grants are being extensively cut and other grants the Government controls are being redirected.
“And we don’t just blame the Government. These new cuts merely exacerbate the five years of cut backs of services after this council’s Conservative group and its fellow travellers chose to vote through the council tax freeze from 2010 to 2015.
“Leaving us with a baseline budget that is almost a million pounds less then it would have been if that freeze had been refused through those years.”
He also hit out at the lack of investment in the town and the slow action to safeguard the future of Whitby’s crumbling piers.
Green Party leader, Cllr Dilys Cluer also opposed the budget, saying it was “shameful” that the council is not paying its employees the national living wage,
She added: “Not only are some employees underpaid, many are overworked.” She pointed to a recent mistake where an item was left off a council agenda in error by a member of staff, and therefore was not voted on.
Council leader Derek Bastiman responded to Cllr Siddons by saying “it must be easy to be in opposition”.
He added: “Anyone with any sense and any vision can see the investment that has gone on in the borough of Scarborough.
“There has been a hell of a lot of development in this borough that unitary and metropolitan councils are jealous of and there is no other borough on this coast that is doing what we are doing. And we will continue to do so with a clear, professional vision.” The budget was approved by 23 votes to 13.