Bills to rise for Slough residents
Council tax bills are expected to rise by 4.99 per cent for Slough residents in April after council leader Dexter Smith labelled this year’s 9.99 per cent hike as ‘unjustified’.
The previous Labour administration faced the ire of residents ahead of the May local elections after it increased council tax bills by almost 10 per cent to help tackle the council’s dire financial position.
Slough Borough Council is still proposing to increase council tax by the maximum amount permitted without a referendum in 2024/25 but councillor Smith said he expects this to be a similar approach to neighbouring local authorities.
He told the Express: “We said we would at least keep to the Government cap and I believe that’s what our budget does.
“I thought last year the 9.9 per cent increase was not fully justified and the council should have been doing more to downsize.”
He added: “They (residents) are not being particularly disadvantaged or made to pay for the failures of the council in the past. We’re not immune from the inflationary pressures they have in Windsor and Maidenhead or
Bucks. We’re just dealing with them in a responsible, managed way.”
Labour councillor Pavitar Kaur Mann, leader of the opposition, said the Slough Labour Party is planning to offer its own alternative budget for discussion by the council in March.
She told the Express: “Last year’s council tax rise was not something we wanted to do but it was based on very strong advice from the commissioners at that time.
“The Conservatives have said we were proposing a 10 per cent council tax rise this year – that is simply not true.
“The Conservatives committed in their manifesto to not going above the Government cap but the budget shows they will be at the maximum amount allowed.”
The council’s budget proposals for 2024/25 also include plans to agree a lease of up to 25 years with Slough Town Football Club for the Arbour Park stadium.
The council leader said this will see the club take on responsibility for yearly maintenance costs at the ground but should provide long-term security for the ambitious National League South team.