Council tax payers face another year of above-inflation increases, according to official Government figures.
The Department for Communities and Local Government said council tax bills in England were set to rise by an average of four per cent.
But across most of Shropshire the figure is even higher. The current inflation rate of 2.5 per cent, according to the Government’s preferred measure, the consumer prices index.
The increases will see the average bill increase from £1,101 to £1,146 while the average band D council tax goes from £1,321 to £1,374.
The average band D bill is now £1,292 in London, £1,328 in metropolitan areas, and £1,408 in shire areas.
South Shropshire tax payers face one of the highest demands in the country. Their band D bill will be £1,505 taking all levies into account. The lowest county figure is Telford & Wrekin at £1,351.
All areas, apart from Oswestry borough have seen rises above four per cent. For Oswestry it was 3.9 per cent but the overall demands are still the second highest in Shropshire.
Figures obtained by the Shropshire Star earlier this month revealed that council tax payers throughout the county had seen their bills soar by more than £300 over the past five years.
Despite the latest rises, the rate of increase has been steadily falling from a peak of 12.9 per cent in 2003-04 to 4.3 per cent last year.
Shadow local government secretary Eric Pickles said the average monthly council tax bill had now risen by £115 since Labour came to power in 1997.
“The cost of living is going through the roof under Labour and this latest round of council tax hikes will mean falling disposable incomes for working families and pensioners,” he said.
But Local Government Minister John Healey said this year’s increase was the lowest for 14 years.
“Most councils have contained their costs and budgeted prudently,” he said.
Local Government Association chairman Sir Simon Milton warned that services would suffer to keep the increases down.
“Councils have been under a real financial squeeze during the annual struggle to keep bills down. The stark reality is that low council tax rises have come at a cost and many councils have had to make tough decisions on spending.”
4 Comments
Nothing new then………Next they will announce the cuts in service and then they will tell us how good they are
How many jail places have this government got left, because with these over inflation increases i can see more and more people defaulting or refusing to pay it.
This headline appears monotonously year after year and the Councils know that we have no choice but to pay up. With pay rises capped at the “official” rate of 2 or 3 percent and Council Tax rising at 4 - 7 percent every year,the time must come for some people when there entire income goes in Council Tax. No other tax is applied without regard to income or ability to pay. Can you imagine the French putting up with such stupidity. Let’s put a stop to it now!
what about the fat cat wages as well!
wake up shropshire!