Dacorum Borough Council announces 1.9 per cent tax increase (From Watford Observer)
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Dacorum Borough Council announces 1.9 per cent tax increase for Kings Langley
2:10pm Wednesday 13th February 2013 in News
By Rebecca Perring, Reporter
Residents in Kings Langley are expected to face a 1.9 per cent increase in Council Tax.
At Dacorum Borough Council’s meeting last night (Tuesday) recommendations for a 1.9 percent increase in Council Tax costs were agreed as part of the budget between 2013 and 2014.
For the average household, which is band D, the proposed increase will mean there will be a 1p increase per day, £173.61 per year, which is an increase of £3.24 on last year's charge.
It will also mean a 48p cost per day for all the borough council's services including refuse collection and recycling, street cleaning, environmental health, planning, licensing, housing advice and benefits.
Councillor Nick Tiley, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources said: "It is tremendously challenging to budget in a recession when income is going down but demands on our services are rising.
"We are acutely aware of the pressure on household incomes and have tried to keep our Council Tax increase to a minimum. The 1.9% increase we propose is to avoid making any cuts in services to make up for the shortfall caused by the recession and reductions in our funding from government.
"As always our priority in setting the budget and Council Tax is to protect frontline services without placing too high a tax burden on local residents, while still investing in boosting the economy for the borough's future.
"We are committed to providing value for money and continue to look for ways that we can work more efficiently and improve our services."
The recommendations will now go to the next full Council meeting in May for final approval.
Comments(7)
Sara
says...
3:18pm Wed 13 Feb 13
MarsLander
says...
4:55pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Nascot
says...
8:22pm Wed 13 Feb 13
MarsLander wrote:Just which borough do you live in MarsLander?. Watford, Three Rivers and now Dacorum, who you are so keen to critisise.
Why won't he consider cutting services?
MarsLander
says...
11:06am Thu 14 Feb 13
"The 1.9% increase we propose is to avoid making any cuts in services to make up for the shortfall caused by the recession and reductions in our funding from government."
------
I'm not criticising a council, I am criticising a political mindset that services can only ever be expanded, never cut.
Councils are bloated and there is plenty of room for cuts in any council, and 2% would be easily achievable in Three Rivers, Watford, Hemel, or anywhere else for that matter, without affecting important frontline services like Libraries which are often the first to be hit due to the outrage it produces amongst residents.
I would prefer small government and low taxes, and certainly no increase in council taxes of any sort.
It doesn't matter where bad management happens, it is always worthy of comment.
If we had a flat local tax that everybody paid equally, after all we are only receiving a service from the councils, I think you would find the people would be pressing for a cut in taxes and a cut in spending well beyond the 2% that would be need to keep this tax from rising in Hemel.
Mike Watford
says...
2:07pm Thu 14 Feb 13
MarsLander wrote:Libraries aren't run by borough or district councils - but county councils (or unitaries irather by n London etc)
Quote "The 1.9% increase we propose is to avoid making any cuts in services to make up for the shortfall caused by the recession and reductions in our funding from government." ------ I'm not criticising a council, I am criticising a political mindset that services can only ever be expanded, never cut. Councils are bloated and there is plenty of room for cuts in any council, and 2% would be easily achievable in Three Rivers, Watford, Hemel, or anywhere else for that matter, without affecting important frontline services like Libraries which are often the first to be hit due to the outrage it produces amongst residents. I would prefer small government and low taxes, and certainly no increase in council taxes of any sort. It doesn't matter where bad management happens, it is always worthy of comment. If we had a flat local tax that everybody paid equally, after all we are only receiving a service from the councils, I think you would find the people would be pressing for a cut in taxes and a cut in spending well beyond the 2% that would be need to keep this tax from rising in Hemel.
What you seem to be calling for is a Poll Tax! And that didn't prove very popular last time. It is a very unfair inequitable form of taxiation.
MarsLander
says...
2:25pm Thu 14 Feb 13
if you read my post more carefully you will see I am not calling for a return to the poll tax, I am merely pointing out that if people had to pay fully for the things the councils currently provide, including the many things we do not need or are not cost-effectively provided by the council then the people would keep more of an eye on how the council spends our tax money. Reductions in council taxes would then most certainly be forthcoming.
Sara says...
2:50pm Wed 13 Feb 13