Telford council tax set to rise by 3.99 per cent
Council tax is planned to go up by 3.99 per cent for Telford residents next year, it has been confirmed.
Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet has voted to approve plans for the increase, which it says will work out at an extra £40 a year for the average Band B home – the most common type of property in the borough.
The increase is made up of 1.99 per cent, for general council services, and two per cent to go solely towards paying for the costs of adult social care.
The proposal will now go out to public consultation until January 31.
The council says the increase will raise just under £2.7 million, and that it will be putting an extra £7m into social care, to address what it claims is "a long-term Government funding shortfall in this area".
In total there will be £45m spent on adult social care, and nearly £35m on children's safeguarding.
Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for finance, said: “This budget will see us again put extra funding into social care for adults and children. With an increasing ageing population needing ever more complex care and no let-up in rising numbers of children in care, the pressure on social care budgets are greater than ever.
“The government’s only answer is to pass the buck, and effectively the bill, on to council tax payers and we reluctantly have to ask our residents help fund the social care shortfall.
“This budget seeks to go some way to address the problem of funding social care while continuing our investment to create a better borough.
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“It also seeks to improve business, boost our high streets, provide more homes for rent, repair, roads footpaths and older structures across the borough, improve the environment and help tackle climate change.
“Many councils are in financial crisis with multi-million pound black holes in their budgets. Yet we are not and we will continue with our responsible and prudent approach which has seen us stay in budget for over a decade.
“We can achieve this while still having one of the lowest council tax rates in the Midlands.”
The budget also seeks to create a new £60m fund to help promote business growth and build more homes for private rent through the council’s subsidiary Nuplace.
Other measures included are £5m to regenerate high streets in Dawley, Ironbridge, Madeley, Newport, Oakengates and Wellington, £16m for roads, footpaths and bridges, and £4m for efforts to reduce the council's carbon footprint.
People wishing to find out more about the budget can do so at telford.gov.uk/budget and can send their views to yourviewsmatter@telford.gov.uk
