Town sets council tax rise

Ross-on-Wye has become the latest part of Herefordshire to increase the share of council tax it will charge households from April.

“We can’t continue with a 0 per cent increase,” finance and property sub-committee chairman Coun Utting told fellow town councillors at a full meeting this week.

“I want to press for this – otherwise we will have a double-digit increase in future.”

His draft budget foresees town council expenditure of £641,840 in the financial year from April, requiring a “precept” from Herefordshire Council, to be added to residents’ council tax bills, of £525,258.

This 2 per cent increase would mean band D properties in the town paying £133.86 locally on top of the main part of their Council Tax, on which Herefordshire Council last week agreed a 3 per cent rise.

The parts of council tax covering police and fire services are due to be set within the next month.

The Ross town budget has to provide for maintenance of the public assets the council has taken on in the town, with £130,000 earmarked for upkeep of the seventeenth-century Market House, the Corn Exchange, St Mary’s Churchyard and other premises, Coun Utting said.

This means the council expects to spend £53,000 more than it raises in the year ahead, a sum it will make up from general reserves, which currently stand at £338,000, he explained, adding: “This year’s budget was £60,000 in deficit, but we didn’t draw on that.”

The town council also aims to access “at least £30,000” from external grants, he said.

Supporting the raise, Coun Louis Stark said: “Two per cent is modest, given the ambitions we have for Ross.

“We should put money towards the assets we have taken on, because they enhance the town, increase visitors, and make residents feel better about where they live.”

Coun Katie Fowler asked: “Gas is going up, Herefordshire’s Council Tax is going up – can people afford it?”

But Coun Ed O’Driscoll said: “There is a big difference between a 2 per cent town council rise, which is £1-2 per household, and a 3 per cent Herefordshire Council rise, which is £40-50 a year.

“There is an argument to freeze it again. But in real terms it will be a decrease, because the cost of everything is going up, for us and for everyone else.”

Coun Daniel Lister said he was “uneasy” voting for the increase, adding: “I’m struggling and others are struggling more.”

But Coun Stark said: “The Council Tax Reduction Scheme has been kept at 100 per cent (in Herefordshire), which is very generous, and there is a further £0.5 million in discretionary support – there are targeted measures for those who need help.”

Coun Chris Bartrum, the only member to vote against the rise, said: “We should go for a nil increase – we can afford it.”