Council tax set to rise for Warwick residents

The town council have said that their portion of the council tax bill will be rising by five per cent.

Labour councillors on the town council said they were against this increase.

Cllr John Holland, (Lab, Saltisford) said: “The town council will be increasing their portion of council tax by five per cent with the whole of that money going into reserves. Again there is an increase in council tax but residents haven’t directly received any extra services.

“The Labour group on the town council were concerned about the increase. People who are in employment have generally not had wage rises to match inflation. We voted against the town council’s decision.”

Cllr Terry Morris, chair of the finance and policy committee, said: “Council tax is made up of a number of elements with the largest percentage going to Warwickshire County Council. The town council element of a household’s council tax Bill is less than two per cent of the total charge: For the year 2018/2019, the total Council Tax charge for a Band D house is £1,761.70 of which £32.18 is the town council charge.

“The increase of five per cent is, in real terms, £1.61 per year for a Band D home or 13p per month.

“Whilst we will always look to minimise any increases, it was agreed that Warwick Town Council needed to increase our charges to ensure that we can build our reserves to an acceptable level.”

Under budget proposals Warwickshire County Council’s ruling Conservative group has included a rise of council tax by three per cent and the adult social care precept by two per cent for the financial year from April 2019 to March 2020.

The budget is due to be set at a meeting on Thursday February 7

This week it was also announced that Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner vowed to put more police on the streets after councillors backed his calls for the maximum possible increase in council tax bills for the police section of the bill.