Video: Council tax bill WILL rise, say county hall bosses

Taxpayers will have to stump up an extra £45.53 for county council services this year, with council chiefs blaming government funding cuts.
Council tax stock imageCouncil tax stock image
Council tax stock image

Bosses at Herts County Council have announced that the authority’s share of council tax will rise from £1,141.09 to £1,186.62 for Band D households – a jump of 3.99 per cent.

The final amount, which includes precepts for Dacorum Borough Council plus the emergency services, is expected to be announced in the first week of March.

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Chris Hayward, Herts County Council’s chancellor and cabinet member for resources, said: “We are always looking for ways to get the best value for your money, and we will carry on finding innovative ways to reduce spending while ensuring the needs of residents are still met.

“But given the tremendous financial challenge we face, efficiencies can only go so far and some tough decisions lie ahead.

“Even with an increase in council tax, residents may start to see differences to the services we provide.”

This year, the county council’s government grant was slashed by a third – from £119million to £80million – meaning taxpayers have to foot more of the bill.

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As a result, residents will pay an additional £22.71 a year for Band D households, but bosses have announced an extra £22.82 will be taken to ‘meet the growing cost of care for older and vulnerable adults’.

This equates to 88p extra a week and the cash will help to pay for things like care at home for older people, residential and nursing care, day activities and support for carers.

Since 2010, Herts County Council bosses say they have made savings of £250million with ‘relatively little impact’ on services.