South Holland District Council leader Gary Porter warns residents that they face a 'doom and gloom' budget with tax rises
Residents are facing a ‘doom and gloom’ budget.
That was the stark warning spelled out by South Holland District Council leader Coun Gary Porter at the authority’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Recommendations including a council tax increase and use of reserves to prop up the 2023-24 budget were cleared to go to full council.
“It is a doom and gloom budget, the worst we’ve probably had to sit through in this chamber to deal with,” Coun Porter said.
Council tax is set to rise £5.76 a year to £195.39 for a Band D property, while Band A properties will now pay £130.26 a year, an overall increase of £3.84.
“It is still worth remembering though, for a Band A property we’re looking at about 8p per week and for a Band D property 11p per week.
“While it is bad news, it’s not the thing that tips any household over and we have things in place to look after the most hard-up families.”
Main pressures faced in the council’s budget include a previously agreed pay increase for staff, pension contributions, rising electricity and gas costs, vehicle fuel costs, increased contract and service costs and the increased Internal Drainage Board levy, which is up £332,000 and accounting for 55% of council tax collected by South Holland DC.
Coun Porter and MP Sir John Hayes are among local representatives who have met with the Government in a bid to ease the £3 million-plus burden on income.
“On the IDBs, if there is any support, my bet would be it would only be for one year while the Government looks to do whatever it can do to make things sustainable going forward,” Coun Porter told the chamber.
“That’s a big if. While talks have been positive, nobody has said the chequebook’s over there all we’ve got to do is get a signature on it.
“It would be nice to find a way to get money back out to the drainage boards, because that means money back into our bank account.”
Coun Peter Coupland, portfolio holder for finance, commercialisation and partnerships, said ‘inflationary pressures across the board have ripped through our budget at an alarming rate’, adding the budget would be ‘uncertain and subject to change’.
“All in all a challenging a difficult period ahead,” he confessed.
“We have envisioned this situation in setting this budget, with hopefully better times ahead.”