Lichfield District Council has been branded a “democracy dodger” after council tax rises were agreed.
The decision to raise the bills of local residents came as the local authority looks to plug a £2.4million funding gap – a figure which comes on top of £4.8million of cuts already identified through the controversial Fit for the Future programme.
But the ruling Conservative group’s decision to set the rise at 1.99 per cent for each of the next three years has been criticised.
The figure remains below the two per cent threshold which would see the council need to hold a referendum and allow residents to have their say on the issue.
Labour councillor Sue Woodward was critical of the report which proposed the rise – which had not been discussed by the cabinet or the overview and scrutiny committee – on Twitter, questioning whether it amounted to democracy dodging and warned that the local authority’s financial strategy was unsustainable.
The Government’s communities minister Eric Pickles had previously warned that councils which did not freeze tax bills should “man up” and suggested that rising by slightly less than the two per cent figure amounted to “democracy dodging”.
Cllr Woodward said: “The argument turned on raising an additional £300,000, which – to put into context – is less than half of the council’s subsidy for the Garrick this year.
“If the £300,000 was so important last night, why wasn’t it considered by cabinet or put previously to scrutiny?
“In the end, it’s about choices. Of course there is a big budget shortfall at the moment but Lichfield District Council’s strategy of ‘slashing and burning’ services while at the same time increasing council tax across the board when the cost of living is a huge concern for taxpayers is unsustainable.”
However, the council’s leader Mike Wilcox insisted the thinking around council tax needed to be “realistic”.
He said: “The increase will see the average local home paying around 25p more a month, or £2.96 extra a year, for the services the district council provides – from leisure centres and parks to planning and recycling.
“We’d prefer not to put council tax up, but we have to be realistic. Over the past few years the government has slashed our funding, and by 2019 the grant we normally get each year to help fund local services will end. Because of this we need to look at all ways to bring in extra income and reduce our costs in order to balance our books. Increasing council tax is just one way we can help to protect more of the local services our residents rely on.
“Some councils are freezing the council tax this year, and the government will provide funding equivalent to a one percent rise in council tax. We’ve chosen not to freeze council tax as it will leave us in a worse position long-term and could force us to cut even more valued local services in future years.
The rise was proposed after the size of the council’s funding shortfall was revealed.
A report to last night’s full council meeting showed that over the next three years the local authority needed to shave 12 per cent off its budget in order to balance the books.
It also said that dipping into reserves to make ends meet would put the council at risk of falling off a “financial cliff edge”.
The medium term financial strategy which outlines the local authority’s budgetary aims for the forthcoming three years recommends avoiding the use of general reserves after the 2014/15 period.
Cllr Wilcox added: “While we know rises are always worrying, as one of the lower charging district councils in the country, even with this year’s increase, residents will still pay less for similar services than people living in Tamworth, Cannock and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
“To help us cut back and work out what services local people want us to continue to provide with reduced funding, we will be asking residents to fill in a questionnaire this spring, as part of our Fit for the Future programme. The questionnaire will ask people to tell us what services they value, what they feel we could cut back on, and what services they want us to protect.
“It will also ask people to tell us whether they support a range of ideas for raising money and cutting costs. We’ll use the responses we get from the questionnaire to help shape decisions over the coming months about the services the council delivers in the future.”
Residents who want to be notified about the questionnaire can email fitforthefuture@lichfielddc.gov.uk.
