2.5% Council Tax rise on the cards (From Western Telegraph)

2.5% Council Tax rise on the cards

12:00pm Monday 7th January 2013 in News

Council Tax payers already feeling the pinch after the festive period face a potential 2.5% rise in their bills this year.

The proposed budget, which is being put before the Cabinet today (Monday), suggests that the council tax for Pembrokeshire County Council for 2013/14 be £741.17 for Band D properties – an increase of £21.24 or 2.95%.

The report also details that the council will have to cut spending by £8.6m over the next three years, Cabinet members will hear.

The report written by the director of finance and leisure calls for a review of current services “to establish a framework whereby key services continue to be delivered and other service areas are prioritised within available resources.”

The council intends to save £1.6m in 2013/14, £3.5m in 2014/15 and £3.5m in 2015/16, which is required to deal with a number of service pressures.

The pressures identified included: the protection of school budgets, adult social services, social worker retention and recruitment costs, pay and grading implementation costs, pay and price pressures, real terms reduction in Welsh Government grants, reduction of capital capacity through supported borrowing by 10% per annum, investment required for the 21st Century Schools Programme, the continued impact of the recession and the introduction of a new Council Tax Support Scheme.

The report highlighted the biggest risk as being “the service and demographic pressure within Adult Social Services”.

“Failure to slow down the rate of increase in this budget will create ongoing cost reduction pressures over and above the aforementioned cost reduction target of £8.6m,” the report added.

The proposed net social care adult service budget for 2013/14 is estimated at £43m– an increase of £4.6m on the original estimate and more than the one per cent planning assumptions used by the Welsh Government.

The council estimate an overspend of £2.8m on adult services by the end of the current financial year.

The total council budget requirement proposed is £211.2m and included £88.6m for education.