Herefordshire Council agrees budget which reflects priorities and freezes council tax.
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 10:12AM A budget which includes extra cash to pay for services for older people and means council tax levels will remain frozen for the second year has been approved by Herefordshire Council.
At the meeting of Council, on the 3rd February 2012, councillors agreed that the authority should take advantage of a one-off £2.16 million government grant offered to councils willing to freeze council tax in 2012/13.
“This is good news for local people,” said Cllr. John Jarvis, leader of the council. “We know that many families in the county are struggling to make ends meet and just like them, we have to reduce our spending and work better to continue to provide the quality services people in the county expect from us.”
Council members heard that, by using the government grant wisely, the authority will be able to secure savings year on year.
The agreed budget includes an extra £1.4 million from central government to be put into the adult service budget for the next financial year.
However the scale of the challenge arising from the government’s deficit reduction programme means that all departments of the council will make a contribution to meeting the savings requirement.
A final decision to freeze council tax at the current level will be taken when council meets in early March.
(Source: Herefordshire Council News Update)
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