Council tax rise on the way for West Sussex residents
The county council's looking to raise bills by the maximum amount allowed
West Sussex County Council plans to increase its portion of the average 2023/24 council tax bill by 4.99 per cent.
If approved, the change would see Band D bills rise by £77.67 to £1,633.41.
This does not include the precepts from Sussex Police and the relevant district or borough councils.
The change, which includes a two per cent precept for adult social care, was endorsed during a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday (January 31) and will go to full council for the final nod on Friday February 17.
Jeremy Hunt, cabinet member for finance & property, told the meeting that the council’s budget for 2023/24 would be balanced without the need to dig into reserves.
But the outlook for the future was not so clear.
Between 2024/25 and 2026/27, the budget gap could total £104million, depending on council tax increases.
Raising council tax by the maximum amount each year from 2024/25 would reduce that gap to £52.8m over the same period.
A report to the meeting said: “Developing this budget has been extremely challenging, set within the context of great uncertainty from the ongoing cost of living crisis and economic conditions.”
The revenue budget for 2023/24, which covers the day-to-day costs of running the council, will be set at £708.8m, an increase of £60.5m (9.3 per cent) compared with 2022/23.
The capital programme, which covers things such as roads and schools projects, will stand at £124.883m.
The council will receive £157m in government funding, which Mr Hunt said was more than had been anticipated.
He added: “The additional funding will only cover about half the pressures we see coming down the line, particularly the future costs around the adults’ social care White Paper.
“So of course we will continue to lobby government for more realistic funding.”
Taryn Eves, the council’s new director of finance & support services said she was satisfied that the budget calculations were ‘robust’ and that the budget was ‘both sound and prudent’.