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Tax rise blamed on 'unfair' grant
DALES council chiefs again blamed their "unfair" Government grant as they announced the biggest tax rise imposed by any of the county's local authorities this year.
Derbyshire Dales District Council revealed it will hit taxpayers with a 2.9 per cent tax increase in April, if councillors approve the plan at a meeting at Matlock Town Hall at 6pm today.
At a press conference on Monday, leader Lewis Rose warned his council could do little more than maintain current service levels.
But he promised no jobs or services would be cut as the authority looked to fill what it has dubbed 'a financial black hole'.
Cllr Rose said: "We continue to cope despite receiving an unfair deal from the Government, but we have learned to live with that.
"We are happy we have produced the best result we can for our council taxpayers and we are only asking for an average of 24p more a week to maintain all these important services."
The district council has received a 0.5 per cent rise in its Government grant, well below the current inflation rate of 3.5 per cent.
So it has decided to increase car parking charges by ten per cent and other fees and charges by up to 2.5 per cent.
And the average taxpayer in Band D will pay 189.66 to the district council in 2010/11 as part of their overall 1,536.91 council tax bill.
Residents' overall bill – which inludes taxes claimed by county and parish councils, fire and police – will rise by 1.8 per cent from last year's figure.
Asked about the authority's financial future, chief finance officer Phil Colledge said: "I think the position actually looks more bleak as we are forecasting such high reductions in Government grant."
Opposition leader David Fearn agreed the Government grant was too low, but questioned how much was being spent on private consultants, public inquiries and planning appeals.
Cllr Fearn added: "You can only put fees and charges up to a certain degree before you meet consumer resistance and by that point stop making income. We are awfully close to that point.
"I think we are facing some grim years and that's my main concern."
The 2.9 per cent rise is larger than that being introduced at eight other Derbyshire authorities. Chesterfield Borough Council has yet to reveal its plans.
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Weather for Chesterfield
Tuesday 07 February 2012
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