Stockport Council has set a budget for the financial year 2019/20 which will require a 2.75% Council Tax increase – a smaller increase than previously planned.
A 2.75% Council Tax increase will result in a rise of £43.94 for an average Band D property – the lowest rise for five years.
The Council Tax charges in 2019/20, including the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept for Greater Manchester and Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services) are:
Band A: £1,227.92
Band B: £1,490.91
Band C: £1,703.90
Band D: £1,916.90
Band E: £2,342.88
Band F: £2,768.85
Band G: £3,194.82
Band H: £3,833.80
The decision comes after the culmination of work to address next year’s budget saving requirement of £16m identified in February 2018. The budget balances achieving this with the need to protect and reform the services upon which people rely, whilst avoiding a maximum allowable Council Tax increase of 3.99%.
The 2.75% Council Tax increase and changes to the Council Tax tax base generate £6.108m towards meeting the savings requirement in 2019/20. It will also reduce the savings requirement in the years which follow.
The budget forms part of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) Strategy, which seeks to identify proposals to address the Council’s saving requirement over the next four years.
Following wide-ranging reviews of Council service, activity and the wider Stockport Partnership, saving proposals totalling £6.744m were identified to support the Council’s 2019/20 Budget.
Explaining why this difficult decision around Council Tax was taken, Leader of Stockport Council, Councillor Alex Ganotis, said: “Nobody who voted for this budget will have taken the decision lightly. Councillors are aware that an increasing burden is being placed on hard-pressed Council Tax payers and that ongoing rises are not a sustainable way to fund local government.
“We have set this budget knowing that residents have faced higher rises in recent years to protect the service they rely upon. But we have made this decision as part of a package of thought-through proposals which prioritise protecting the vulnerable and minimising the impact on frontline services.
“In short, this progressive budget has listened to the views of residents as part of our consultations whilst seeking a balance between protecting services where possible and the amount of tax we seek from residents.”
The 2.75% rise is broken down as follows:
- 1% (or an additional £15.87) relates to a rise in the Adult Social Care Precept. This will help to tackle the increasing costs as a result of increasing demand and other pressures in adult social care across the Borough.
- 1.75% (or an additional £27.96) will go towards ensuring the Council can continue to fund essential frontline services, and also make investments which will save or generate funds to prepare the Council for a future of self-reliance and sustainability.
Added to this are a number of other Precepts which the Council does not set but has to collect.
When added the total for the Band D Council Tax is £1,916.90.
This is broken down as follows:
- The general Council Tax to Stockport Council is £1,523.81
- A precept for Adult Social Care to Stockport Council is £117.84
- Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner Precept for Greater Manchester is £198.30
- Mayoral General Precept (including Fire and Rescue Services) is £76.95
For more information you can visit the Stockport Council Tax web pages.
You can also view their budget papers.