REDDITCH borough council has approved an across the board increase of £5 in its council tax for the financial year 2016/17.
The decision comes after Worcestershire County Council increased its take of the council tax by 3.94 per cent, or £43.50, on a Band D property.
Following suit are West Mercia Police with a £3.70 increase on Band D (1.99 per cent) and Hereford & Worcester Fire & Rescue with a £1.50 increase.
Taken together it means that a Redditch householder living in a Band D property will see their council tax increase by £52.57 to £1,634.81, per annum, an overall increase of 3.32 per cent.
The decision was reached at Tuesday night’s Executive meeting followed by Full Council with both Labour and Conservative borough councillors agreeing on the £5 increase.
However Tory group leader Councillor Juliet Brunner (Con, M’boro) hit out at the council’s proposed budget for 2016/17 branding it ‘a poor excuse for a budget’.
“This budget shows shows how inept the controlling group are. The auditors Grant Thornton were kept waiting for the accounts and raised the issue of discrepancies in pension payments, and they will bill us for that.”
She also accused Labour of spending the proceeds from Threadneedle House on ‘vanity projects’ like the purchase of Crossgates House.
Coun Brandon Clayton (Con, Abank & Feckenham) added: “I think this budget is a wasted opportunity. There’s £300,000 that could have been had from the review of leisure services, £145,000 from Crossgates House, and £20,000 from the re-modelling of the entrance to the Town Hall which everyone says is a shambles.”
However council leader Coun Bill Hartnett (Lab, Church Hill) said the council had produced a good budget in near impossible conditions.
He added that the purchase of Crossgates House would actually save the council money as they would no longer have to pay rent on it, and that the Conservative controlled Overview and Scrutiny Committee had themselves agreed to the delay into the leisure services review.
He added it was unfair to attack the council on the issue of the auditors as these had been due to circumstances outside their control.
“It’s been a particularly difficult year and we have had to deal with draconian cuts from the Government, and it’s not just Labour councils, it’s all councils of all descriptions and the demand does not go away.”
Coun Greg Chance (Lab, Central) added: “Tory councils up and down the country have been squealing – even David Cameron’s mother was squealing.
“The Tory police is chop and burn and worry about it later. We have managed to sustain services and produce a balanced budget.”
Only Feckenham parish council bucked the trend of council tax increases, cutting its parish precept by 17p, or 0.74 per cent.
