Wiltshire Council proposing almost 2% increase in council tax AND 3% adult social care levy
The cabinet has been outlining its financial plan for the next financial year
Last updated 20th Jan 2021
Households in Wiltshire are facing a hike in their council tax.
Wiltshire Council is proposing basic council tax increases by 1.99%, whilst residents would also have to pay a 3% levy for adult social care.
Bosses say that's needed to address the £8.6m growth due to an increasing older population and their needs.
UNPRECEDENTED YEAR
Wiltshire Council say 2020 presented "challenges like no other" with the impact of Covid-19 leaving a £5m shortfall.
The loss of income mainly came from services like car parking, leisure and libraries which were all affected by the pandemic.
The local authority is confident its £412m financial plan will help the county "get back on its feet."
Alongside the tax rise, the council is also proposing:
- A £6.6m allocation for investment in Children’s Social Care and a further £1.5m to respond to rising demand for special educational needs service
- To increase investment in waste services by £2.6m to a total of £42.3m
- A reversal of the planned £1m reduction in Public Health funding
- A six-fold increase in its discretionary hardship fund to £300k, held to assist those families and residents that, after undertaking all avenues of support to reduce their council tax bill, need further support from the council
- An investment of over £2.1m to bring all its leisure service operations in-house
- An investment of nearly £2m to help fund the planned £214m investment in its capital programme
The capital programme includes £22m to maintain Wiltshire's road network and over £23m on schools including the replacement of the lower block at Stonehenge School.
SUPPORT FOR MARKET TOWNS
Meanwhile, a £4m fund, £1m every year for the next 4 years, will be set up to help support Market Towns hit hard by the pandemic.
The exact use of the money will be determined later in the year.
The council say they will receive significant one off funding support from the government over the next year.
Cllr Pauline Church, Cabinet Member for Finance, Procurement and Commercial Investment, said:
"This is a budget like no other, and takes into account the quite extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in.
Just like all local authorities, our finances have been hit hard by the pandemic, but our commitment and focus is to ensure our villages, towns, city, residents, businesses and communities get all the support they need to help them recover from the damage caused by the pandemic.
Of course there are challenges ahead, but we will still be investing in vital services and programmes to, not only help our communities recover, but to help them thrive.
We have always been diligent with our finances and that ensured we had a strong foundation in place to deal with the unexpected, even though we couldn’t have predicted the profound impact COVID-19 has had.
Our proposals will now go through a transparent and rigorous scrutiny process and we look forward to talking through the decisions we have made and the all-important context behind them."
A final decision on the plans will be made at a full council meeting on 23rd February.
Earlier this year, Wiltshire Police proposed a £15 a year increase on the policing precept part of the council tax.