County set to go low with council tax rise (From Hampshire Chronicle)

County set to go low with council tax rise

6:19pm Thursday 5th February 2009 in Alresford

HAMPSHIRE County Council chiefs have unveiled the lowest council tax rise in nearly 40 years.

Leader, Ken Thornber, will propose a council tax increase of 1.9 per cent, the lowest since 1971, when the cabinet meets today (Friday).

Last year, the ruling Conservatives hiked council tax by an inflation-busting 4.5 per cent.

The Liberal Democrat opposition has branded the proposal a pre-election “con-trick”.

All 78 seats at the county council are up for grabs next June.

But Mr Thornber said: “We have already reduced the planned council tax rise in 2009-10 from 3.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent, but as people feel the economic pinch of the downturn, I feel we must reduce this still further.”

The 2009-10 budget will be considered by the full council on February 19.

The county council share, which makes up the largest part of the overall bill, will increase from £999 to £1,117 for average Band D households – up £18 on the previous year. It is the first time the average bill will pass the £1,000 mark.

While other councils are shedding jobs in the recession, Hampshire is considering recruiting 209 extra staff to social services.

Council chiefs say 171 extra staff in adult services are needed because of the growing number of elderly, to improve care of dementia sufferers and “safeguarding” those at risk of abuse.

In addition, an extra £1.2m is to be spent on child protection, with the county proposing to employ 38 extra social workers Finance chiefs say budgets are under growing pressure from increased energy costs for everything from street lights to libraries and with no extra money allocated to the £6.5m bus subsidy, further service cuts have not been ruled out.

Adrian Collett, Lib Dem group leader, said: “A council tax rise of 1.9 per cent is welcome, but it is a shame the Tories are only doing it because it is an election year. We told them last year and the year before council tax was too high at 4.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent. People are not stupid. It is a con-trick.”

l NEW Forest District Council arebattling to plug a £1m black hole in their budget – and have not ruled out job losses.

They say income it has received from fees and investments has dropped by £2.5m as a result of the credit crunch.

Council tax bills are set to rise by three per cent from April in a bid to recoup some of the money.

But the authority is currently unable to balance its budget for the coming financial year and will initially have to rely on its reserves.

Colin Wise, cabinet member for finance, warned that more job losses were a possibility, but said he hoped the council could avoid the need for compulsory redundancies.

The council tax increase will raise an extra £350,000. People living in an average Band D home will have to pay the authority £153.