Council sets 4.7 per cent tax increase

Herefordshire Council has set an increase in council tax, which was supported by all four political groups, of 4.7 per cent. 

The proposal is in line with the national level for similar authorities and in particular recognises increasing pressures in social care and education.

The increase brings the Council’s share of the household bill from £996.94 to £1,043.80 on band D property – an increase of about 90p a week from April 2006.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Roger Phillips, said: “Government continues to fail, properly understand and address the problems of delivering services over large rural areas.

“We must work across the political divide locally to lobby nationally for better funding for our county and rural areas.

“We recognise that Herefordshire is not an affluent county and we have a large proportion of the population on fixed or low incomes.

“But we need to balance this with providing proper levels of support to the most vulnerable members of society.”  

The 4.7 per cent increase is Herefordshire Council’s element of the council tax bill only and does not take into account other statutory bodies such as the police, fire, parish/town/city councils etc. Therefore, £1,043.80 will not be the final council tax bill for the next financial year (2006/07).

The Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue has increased its share of the council tax bill by 4.9 per cent.  West Mercia Constabulary has set its precept at 4.9 per cent.