County backs 4% tax rise (From Witney Gazette)

County backs 4% tax rise

8:32am Wednesday 14th February 2007

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OXFORDSHIRE County Council has agreed a four per cent increase in its share of the annual council tax bill.

Taxpayers will see the county council part of their bill rise by £41 a year for a band D household, from £1,008 to £1,049.

Cllr Keith Mitchell, leader of the Tory-led council, said the authority was delivering on election promises and reducing the council tax increase to less than inflation.

An extra £450,000 will be spent on reducing the council's carbon footprint, £665,000 on the fire and rescue service, and £700,000 on children in care.

But the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green Party groups on the council claimed the budget would fail vulnerable people.

Cllr Chris Wise, of the Liberal Democrats, said: "It's absolutely vital to ensure these services are adequately funded to try to break down circles of deprivation."

And Cllr Larry Sanders, of the Green Party, said: "The failure in the area of older people will worsen over the years with £5m of service reductions and £8m of squeezes. It will come back."

Labour councillor Barbara Gatehouse said: "There needs to be more money in to help the elderly and the vulnerable.

"We believe it is possible to do more for people than we are and with not a lot more money we can do a lot more for the people we are responsible for."

The Liberal Democrat group's budget proposed a four per cent council tax rise, with additional spending on adult social care and savings elsewhere, while the Labour group budget proposed a 4.3 per cent increase and the Green party suggested amendments to the council cabinet's budget, dropping the increase to 3.9 per cent.

The cabinet budget was approved by 38 votes to 21.

The county's part of the council tax makes up the bulk of the overall bill.

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