RESIDENTS in Alcester and Studley are facing a £5 hike in their council tax under proposals from Stratford District Council which have now gone out for public consultation as part of its draft budget.
The increase, the maximum allowed by the government with a referendum, would see Stratford’s take of the entire council tax amount increase from £144.12 to £149.12 on a Band D property from this April.
Councillor Tony Jefferson, Leader of Stratford District Council said: “We have to set our budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy against the backcloth of tremendous uncertainty.
“We have estimated that the Covid-19 pandemic will cost us £7.5million over the next five years, and that was before taking account of the latest lockdown.
“Central Government has provided a one year financial settlement which means we do not know what financial support we will receive beyond 2021/22.
“We have been able to protect the provision of services to residents for next year. It is not surprising, however, that we have had to take some difficult decisions.
“The difficult decisions will not need to be actioned until 2022/23 and beyond, but they demonstrate the impact of the savings we need to make. The details of the Government’s Spending Review later this year will be crucial.”
To view the proposals in more detail residents and businesses should visit http://www.stratford.gov.uk and make comment there from Thursday January 21.
Although the collecting agent for council tax, the District Council only receives 7.5 per cent of the amount paid by residents – Warwickshire County Council receives 77 per cent, the Police 12.3 per cent and Towns/Parishes 3.2 per cent.
This means the District Council only gets just under 8p of every £1 paid in council tax to provide services.
