Thousands to get £225 knocked off council tax bills in Harrogate
It's thanks to a government Covid-19 Hardship Fund.
Thousands of residents in Harrogate could get £225 knocked off their council tax bills - thanks to a government Covid-19 Hardship Fund.
It's part of support measures for struggling households which are set to be approved next week.
Council tax increases were approved earlier this month - which will see the average band D property in the town pay more than £2,000 this year.
At the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, councillors will also be told that hardship payments of £150 are being increased up to £225, as part of the hardship find.
Harrogate Borough Council received £863,157 under the scheme to support economically vulnerable households during the pandemic but at the end of January had only distributed just over half.
Any unspent money at the end of next month must be returned to the government but Julie Gillett, the council’s revenues, welfare and customer services manager, said in a report that the authority wants to use the cash to cover the increase in hardship payments awards, as well as housing costs for hard-hit residents.
She said: “The proposed uses of the hardship funding will ensure that we maximise the spending of our council tax hardship funding allocation to ensure there is not a significant underspend which has to be returned to the government.
“The rate of new cases that qualify for the award each week has remained modest, even through the current lockdown.”
North Yorkshire County Council last week became the last of the main authorities serving the Harrogate district to approve a council tax increase - with a 3.49% hike on its majority proportion of bills.
The charge for Harrogate Borough Council will go up by £5 from the beginning of April, along with a 1.99% increase for both police and fire. Local town and parish councils will also levy a parish precept on bills.