Maximum tax rise coming – but won’t be felt right away
One-off support fund to help ease the burden
PEOPLE living in Rochdale will be hit with a 4.99 per cent tax rise after initial approval from council bosses.
The taxpayer in Rochdale will not feel this hit straight away, though, as the council’s cabinet have proposed a one-off support fund, just like last year.
The council will use their reserves - at an estimated cost of £2.8m - to give residents what would be a tax increase of 2.99 pc in reality.
This tax increase has been done in order to balance the books, with the annual spending for 2024/25 now estimated at £296.781m.
This position is down to increased costs generally with particular financial
pressure coming from demand in Children’s Services as well as the adult social care sector.
The adult social care Real Living Wage (RLW) pressure had initially added £3.6m to the budget.
Explaining the reasoning for the subsidy for council tax during the meeting held at Number One Riverside in Rochdale, council leader Coun Neil Emmott said: “We do this because of the burden taken by the cost of living crisis in the UK and we don’t want to add to this where possible.
“We are one million miles away from issuing a Section 114 notice (bankruptcy)
like other councils across the country.”
Other cabinet members present at the meeting echoed praise of the council’s financial position and thanked the finance team for their efforts on behalf of their ward residents.
No cuts were planned as part of the budget announcements approved at the meeting either.
The central government provides a cap on the council tax increase a local authority can make before a referendum is required.
The referendum limit for 2023/24 was a 4.99 pc increase.
The referendum limit remains the same for 2024/25 and the budget therefore assumes a 2.99 pc general increase, with a 2 pc increase on the social care precept.
If the council did not raise their council tax, they would not be eligible for further government grants, the cabinet meeting at Number One Riverside heard.
The final approval of the tax hike will go to a vote at the budget council meeting today (Wednesday).