Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s share of the annual council tax bill looks set to be frozen at last year’s rate, after the Executive agreed to recommend a 0% increase.
If agreed at the meeting of the full Council on 11 February (2010) it would be first time in the Council’s history there has been no rise, and Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s share of the council tax bill for 2010/2011 would remain at £193.83 per year (£3.72 a week) for a Band D average household.
Cllr Victor Broad, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Finance, said:
“The Executive has recommended a budget for the year ahead which would enable us, for the first time in the Council’s history, to avoid any increase in our share of council tax. We were keen to try to achieve this for the coming year, in what we appreciate is a difficult financial climate for many residents and businesses.
“To enable this to happen we have worked hard to make substantial savings of over £2 million in our annual budget, which for next year will be £18.3 million. We have examined the way we deliver services, our staffing levels and wage bill, making efficiency savings and improving effectiveness where possible, without compromising the services that we provide. We are also still on target to deliver our ambitious plans for new community and leisure facilities that residents have been promised, such as the refurbishment of Donyngs.”
Reigate & Banstead retains just 13 per cent of the total council tax collected – the bulk of the money collected goes to Surrey County Council (74 per cent), with the rest (13 per cent) going to Surrey Police.
The Council spends just over £62 million a year in providing services to residents ranging from household waste and recycling collection and cracking down on fly-tippers to leisure provision and planning services. Of that, the government provides 11 per cent, 71 per cent is made up from various sources of income and 18 per cent is met by council tax.
A key factor is achieve this zero percent increase was the 2 year freeze on all council staff’s pay. A 2 year freeze on staff pay, as the council’s largest annual cost, will contribute £700k in savings. This follows a similar decision to freeze councillor allowances. made at the last council meeting in December.
The cost of running the Council increases each year due to many factors including new responsibilities arising from government legislation, service growth caused by the increasing number of houses in the Borough, inflation etc. The slowdown within the national economy has also had an impact on the level of income received by the Council such as planning fees, land charges, parking fees.
Cllr Mark Brunt commented:
“This year’s savings of over £2 million come on top of savings of over £1.5 million in each of the past few years. Councils in Surrey have to run just to stand still – whilst the average Government grant increase for councils across the country for this year is 2.6 per cent this Council will receive just 0.5 per cent, which means that significant savings have to be found to enable council tax to be frozen.”
The overall council tax level will be known once Surrey County Council and Surrey Police decide on their budgets for the coming year, which should happen during February.
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