Council tax rise up for discussion in Norfolk
A meeting's being held to discuss a possible increase.
A meeting's being held today to discuss the proposed budget for Norfolk for 2021/22, and that includes plans for a 3.99% increase to council tax.
That would mean an increase of ÂŁ56.43 a year for an average Band D household - taking the total bill for the year to ÂŁ1,472.94.
Norfolk County Council's scrutiny committee is meeting today to talk about the proposed budget, a final decision will then be made on Monday 22nd February at a full council meeting.
Committee Chair, Cllr Steve Morphew, said: "Lurching from one year to another is no way to run the finances of a council like Norfolk.
"We are facing challenges from all angles and need to make sure Norfolk people are getting the best possible services using their money wisely.
"That needs openness, transparency and honesty to enable the scrutiny committee to do its job on behalf of Norfolk.
"We all benefit from robust challenges to make sure genuine problems are tackled and not used as an excuse for inaction."
What will the meeting look at?
- A proposed ÂŁ439 million revenue budget - spending on services and running costs, funded by Council Tax, Business Rates, and Government funding. By law, the budget must always be balanced.
- Proposals to raise general Council Tax by the Government's guideline figure of 1.99%, and raise the adult social care precept by two percent.
- The proposed ÂŁ537 million capital budget - spending on infrastructure - funded by Government grants, land and sales borrowing.
A revenue budget report says that the council has seen its Government funding reduce by ÂŁ92.8 million since 2015, while cost pressures on children's services and adults' services rose by ÂŁ40.1 million last year alone.
A final decision on the budget will be taken by the full council next Monday.