By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Cotswold households face further bill hikes this year as civic chiefs have approved a 3.24 per cent council tax rise.
Cotswold District Council approved last night (Monday, February 24) their budget for the upcoming financial year.
From April the proportion of council tax paid for district services for a band D property will rise by £5 to £158.93.
The total tax bill Cotswolds households receive will also include Gloucestershire County Council, police and parish council charges.
Shire Hall agreed last week to increase their proportion of tax for a band D property bill by 4.99 per cent to £1,679.65.
And Gloucestershire Constabulary’s precept is rising by 4.5 per cent. For a band D home, this will see the yearly bill for policing rise by £14 from £308 to £322.
The Conservative opposition raised concerns over the Lib Dem’s track record at Cotswold District Council which they say has led to the “ensuing financial meltdown and pleas of poverty”.
And they said during the meeting that the Lib Dems “continue to splash taxpayers’ cash on self-promotion, public relations and virtue signalling”.
Group leader Tom Stowe (C, Campden and Vale) pointed outthe “eyewatering” 41 per cent increase in this year’s budget for PR and communications which has risen to to £405k.
He said this is being done “to fund a six strong team while front line services crumble and fees and charges go through the roof”.
“It shows what this administration’s real priorities are,” he said.
“Then there was the extraordinary decision to blow £40k on a rebrand – changing the colour of the council’s logo, a process the leader himself described as ‘not a major rebrand’.
“These two examples, of which there are many more, exemplify the mindset of this Liberal Democrat administration, they are clueless about delivering value for taxpayers.”
Lib Dem leaders said they would not take lectures from the Tories on financial management given their track record at Westminster.
They defended the decision to invest in communications and said it was more important than ever to keep residents informed.
They also said that a move to cut that budget would lead to redundancies.
And finance cabinet member Mike Evemy (LD, Siddington and Cerney Rural) dismissed suggestions from the Tories that the council is on the verge of bankruptcy and would have to go “cap in hand” to the government.
But he did concede the authority is facing financial challenges.
He said this was not to do with the council’s performance but changes to local government funding.
“The funding changes they are currently consulting on, potentially, will take £3m pounds away from us next year,” he said.
“That’s a massive drop in anyone’s numbers when we have a £15m revenue budget – £3m taken out of it is a massive hit.”
He said that is causing the council’s financial worries and he said the current financial settlement is “the worst” he’s seen since doing the job over the last six years.
“The government is assuming that we will put the council tax up by the maximum amount which is what we are intending to do.
“If we didn’t, essentially, we would be cutting the resources. It’s a grave situation for local governments across the country and we are not immune to the challenges.”
The council voted to approve the budget with 18 votes in favour, seven against and one abstention.