A Council Tax rise of 8p a week for the average household in St Edmundsbury is being proposed in a report due to be considered by Cabinet on 17 February.
Cabinet will be considering for recommendation to full Council funding for the street wardens scheme in Bury St Edmunds, improvements to Haverhill bus station and town centre, more dog and litter bins, extra street cleaning crews, refurbishment of the Athenaeum, rural initiatives and a green waste sack collection for homes which can't have brown bins.
The 3.9% rise compares to a rise of 6.5% last year and 9.9% the year before that. St Edmundsbury Borough Council receives around 13% of the Council Tax collected, with the rest going to Suffolk County Council and the police. A Band D Council Tax payer will be paying £156.15 to St Edmundsbury for its services (the largest number of houses in the borough are in the lower Band B - they will be paying £121.45 a year, or £2.34 a week).
Services provided by the borough council include refuse collection, recycling, street cleaning, finding homes for homeless people, car parks, markets, parks, museums, leisure activities, public toilets, promoting tourism, youth activities, helping to cut crime and the fear of crime and helping to improve people's health.
St Edmundsbury Council Leader, Cllr John Griffiths, said:
"We promised to reduce the rises in Council Tax and we are delivering on that commitment. Our Council Tax rises have consistently gone downwards and we will to work on ways of becoming even more efficient. We will make sure that we will get the absolute best value possible from every penny of Council Tax."
The final decision on the budget will be made by full Council on 24 February. Full details are in the Cabinet Budget and Council Tax Setting: 2005/2006 (Paper V518)
ENDS
ISSUED BY MARIANNE HULLAND, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757034. marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk
