Thurrock Council to decide on tax increase tonight
A cabinet meeting last week decided to push ahead with plans to increase council tax
A full council meeting taking place at 7 o'clock tonight (Wednesday 1 March) will determine whether Thurrock Council will increase council tax by almost 10%.
While most council tax rises are capped at 5%, the conservative-run council "was granted special permission" by government to increase council tax by 9.99% without the need for a local referendum.
If it goes ahead, average Band D homeowner will end up paying around an extra £144 per year in council tax.
Though a hardship fund has been set up to support those who will struggle to meet the new council tax rate.
Why is this happening?
It comes as the Conservative-run council finds itself with debts of almost £1.5bn.
The debts were, in part, created following a series of high-risk investments into the likes of solar power.
What are people saying?
The decision has been widely criticised by opposition parties, as well as members of the public who have set up a petition to scrap the council tax increase.
As a result, the council meeting is expected to attract a fair amount of attention and see higher than usual numbers of attendance.
Is there anything else in the budget?
As well as the proposed council tax rise, Thurrock Council is also planning on reducing some services in order to save money.
These services include street cleaning, certain bus routes, and youth programmes.
The meeting is taking place in Council Chamber this evening.