WODC plans low council tax rise (From Witney Gazette)

WODC plans low council tax rise

2:35pm Tuesday 21st February 2006 in Witney By Andrew Alexander

A LOW tax rise planned by West Oxfordshire District Council is likely to provoke fresh debate about the authority's financial future.

In the next few weeks, the council looks likely to increase its portion of the council tax bill by £3, or less, to £69 for a band D property. The remaining bulk of the bill comes from Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police. The proposed increase, which will be discussed by the council's ruling cabinet today, and finalised at a meeting of the full council on March 1, is likely to leave the authority with one of the lowest charges in the country.

As in previous years, the council is planning to use a substantial sum in this case £1.165m to keep its council tax demand down without cutting services.

Council leader, Barry Norton, said: "It's possible the increase could be as little as £2. We've been very successful during the past year at collecting old council tax debts and business rates, so we've got a bit of leeway.

"But there's an increase of about £600,000 in what we need to spend because of Government pressure £200,000 to pay for full-fare bus passes for the elderly, and we're going to keep offering £31 travel tokens for taxis when some districts have looked at getting rid of them. We've got to put aside £120,000 for additional grounds maintenance and street cleaning, because of all the new houses being built, and about £80,000 for waste collection to all those new houses.

"We're planning to use £1.165m in revenue balances, but that's down from about £2.25m a few years ago, thanks to every department looking closely at their budgets. It's obvious we're not getting enough from the Government.

"It's possible the increase could be as little as £2."

Barry Norton, leader of WODC

"If we increased the council tax by £20, we could stop using the balances, but we would be capped."

In 2004, the council was forced to cut its proposed increase from 33 per cent to just five per cent when the Government threatened to cap the rise.

Since then, it has been using reserves, which, if this budget is passed, will fall to £12.106m.

Last year, Liberal Democrat councillors, who are in the minority on the council, refused to agree the budget, after disagreeing with ruling Conservatives.

Lib Dem councillor Stuart Brooks said: "This budget seems to have exactly the same problems as last year, and little has been done in the mean time to solve them. If West Oxfordshire District Council still exists in a few years, then services will have to be cut, as the available resources are used up.

"Last year, we offered to participate in a working party to have a look at ways of getting a better return, like investing in property, rather than leaving it in a normal bank, where it is now, and they voted against it.

"Over the next few years, things are only going to get tighter and tighter.

"We have to think about how to tackle this problem now."

The final budget will be decided on March 1.