Epsom Council says cuts necessary to keep council tax rise to 2.5 per cent (From Surrey Comet)

Epsom Council says cuts necessary to keep council tax rise to 2.5 per cent

2:23pm Monday 8th February 2010

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Epsom Council is proposing a 2.5 per cent council tax rise for the coming year.

The tax hike was outlined at the Financial Policy Panel meeting last Tuesday (February 2) and if it goes ahead will be higher than neighbouring boroughs.

Reigate and Banstead Council and Sutton Council are not planning any rise at all, while Kingston is planning a 1.9 per cent rise.

But Epsom Council says it will have to increase the amount its residents pay in line with inflation, and even to do that it will need to agree to cuts and savings proposed by committees in the past few weeks, including parking fees for blue badge holders and the closure of Cox Lane Day Centre.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “In the toughest funding environment for many years, the council has undergone a thorough review of service costs. The 2.5 per cent proposal will require the achievement of efficiency and service savings, which the council will vote on when it meets to agree the budget in two weeks time.”

They will be setting the budget for 2010/2011 at the full council meeting on Tuesday (February 16). If the rise is approved, the borough’s council tax will be one of the lowest in Surrey.

Councillor Keith Mann, chairman of the Strategy and Resources Committee said: “The proposed budget has been prepared against a background of an unprecedented economic environment. The council has had to make very difficult decisions. I am confident that the residents of Epsom and Ewell will understand that savings have to be made in the public sector and that the council has to respond to the pressures that Central Government has placed upon the finances of the authority.

“We still await the council tax precepts from Surrey County Council and Surrey Police however I believe that the overall bills in the borough will increase by no more than 2.5 per cent.”

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