WHAT’S HAPPENING WHERE YOU LIVE...

Council leader Llinos Medi has warned residents should prepare themselves for a council tax increase of between 4% and 5%. The proposal is to consider increasing council tax in a range between 2.6% and 5% from April. The final decision on this increase will be taken at the council meeting in February. A rise in council tax is “inevitable” according to the council and it is working on a figure of 4.2%. The council is planning a 4.52% rise. Council leader Dave Poole said: “We continue to work hard to minimise the impact of financial cuts on local residents.

“In fact over half of the £7.2m proposed savings for next year will not have a direct impact on the public.” Cardiff council has said there will be a rise and at the moment it is looking at it being 3.7%. That is the same figure as last year. The council received 0.5% less than last year from the Welsh Government. The rise is expected to be 4.12%. The council said it would not make a figure public before the new year. Conwy put its council tax up by 4.6% in 2017-18. This year there is an indicative increase of 5%. No details about its budget plans have yet been made public and a spokeswoman for the council said that it was not expected until early this year. A council spokesman has warned a rise could be “the highest annual rise in council tax in Flintshire for some years”. Councillors in Gwynedd have discussed a 5% rise. At a meeting in October the head of the finance department said a 5% increase would result in an increase of approximately £3.5m to the council’s coffers but it would not meet inflation.

Minutes show: “The chief executive stated that a formal cap had never been imposed and he suspected that there would be a local authority somewhere facing pressure to cross the 5% threshold before Gwynedd had to do so, as the situation had become especially precarious in several places.” Consultation on the budget for 2018-19 has begun but no figure for any council tax rise is currently being consulted on. The authority is working on a basis of a 3.95% rise per year, according to their medium term financial plan. Council tax in Neath Port Talbot could increase by 4.5% if proposals made by the council are accepted by residents.

It would mean a band D household, which is the average marker for council tax, would see occupiers paying an additional £1.25 a week in tax. The public consultation in Newport began on December 20. Pembrokeshire council could raise its council tax by a huge 12.5%.

Officials have already identified £10.7m worth of savings and could raise £2.4m with a 5% council tax rise without breaching the Welsh Government’s informal 5% council tax cap.

However, that leaves a shortfall of £3.64m that could either be met with a larger council tax rise of 12.5% or by even more severe cuts to services. No recommended figure has yet been made public though it is expected that any rise will be below 5% – possibly between 4.5% and 5%. The rise in RCT will be about 3% but could go up to 3.25%. Swansea council has to save £22m this year. Its councillors say council tax could have to go up by at least 4%. No figure is yet available. No decision has been made and will not be made until the end of February. People in Wrexham faced a 2.6% rise last year and the council’s mediumterm plan works on a 3% rise.

In its consultation to residents, the council is asking people if they agree with a 3% rise or whether they feel more would be okay.