HIKES to Rugby Borough Council’s (RBC) share of Council Tax and green bin charges have been approved.
Councillors agreed a 2.99 per cent increase to RBC’s share of Council Tax – the maximum allowed – as government funding dwindles and demand for services rises.
The charge for a green garden waste collection will increase by £5 to £45, after Councillors heard that inflation in some parts of the service has been 200 per cent over the seven years since the charge was introduced.
RBC also allocated £100,000 to promote waste reduction and recycling and speed up delivery of the council’s climate strategy.
And £50,000 will go towards a health partnership to promote health facilities in the town.
Council Leader Coun Derek Poole said it was a ‘balanced and sustainable budget in the best interests of residents’.
He added: “With a reduced core grant and increasing demand for services, we have managed to maintain all of our services and allocate funding to support the economy, tackle climate change and improve health and wellbeing.”
Labour Group Leader Coun Michael Moran said the council’s finances were poised to ‘fall off a cliff’ by 2029.
He said: “We not only need a strategy for growth but an actual plan and commitment to deliver.
“We need a council that is totally transparent and makes sound decisions based on key evidence and financial analysis – a council that stops making crude knee jerk decisions and instead employs professionals to put together medium and long term strategies.”
Liberal Democrat Group Leader Coun Jerry Roodhouse described it as a ‘challenging year’.
He said: “As always budgets are difficult to resolve, especially with government reducing funding for local councils.
“With RBC in no overall control, we have stood up to that task and brokered the best deal for local residents in these challenging times.”
With larger Council Tax rises already approved by Warwickshire County Council and the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner, bills in Rugby will go up by around £100 compared to last year.
The average bill in Rugby is now around £750 more than it was in 2010-11, due in part to the phasing out of the Government’s Revenue Support Grant.
By next year, Council Tax will comprise 70 per cent of RBC’s funding – compared to around 45 per cent in 2013-14.
Visit www.rugby.gov.uk/counciltax for more information, including charges for specific parishes.
