Birmingham City Council asks for tax rise of up to 21% over two years
The exact rise will not be agreed until the council sets its budget in February.
Last updated 10th Jan 2024
Birmingham City Council has asked the government for permission to increase council tax by up to 10% each year for two financial years.
If permission is granted it would mean a total potential rise of 21% by April 2025.
The exact rise will not be agreed until the council sets its budget in February
It comes as the council has been told to find £300 million in savings over the next two years over an unpaid equal pay bill and a new IT system.
The Labour administration is looking to increase council tax by 10% both this coming fiscal year and next.
This would equate to a total of a 21% increase over the next two years and 77% since 2012. That equates to an average increase of £855 since 2012, and an average bill of £1969 by 2025/2026."
In a council meeting today (9 January), Council Leader John Cotton said the rise, this year, would not be going beyond 10 per cent and they would do all the could to protect the most vulnerable.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives said:
"Following Labour's latest announcement of their 21% Council tax rise, Brummies will have faced an average increase to their annual bill of £855, equal to 77% a year, since Labour took control in 2012. Labour took control on a promise to not increase Council Tax - this is just another broken promise from this bankrupt Labour Council".
Cllr Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley), added:
“A 21% rise in council tax over the next two years is an absurd burden to ask the residents of this City to carry to bail out this Labour Administration. It has been Labour’s decisions, Labour’s weakness, and Labour’s dangerous negligence of an issue which they were fully aware of, which has created this crisis. As such it is totally unreasonable to ask residents to pay for Labour incompetence”
Birmingham City Council has said that it is committed to getting the city back on its feet after effectively declaring itself bankrupt last year.