The first Budget produced solely by Cheshire East Council elected members and staff will be considered by the full council on Thursday February 25th. In the meantime the Cabinet met yesterday and agreed that Band D Council Tax will be set at £1,216.34 for 2010/11.
This represents a below inflation increase of 1.7% over the 2009/2010 level of £1,196.01, with a commitment to use £0.8m of the additional income raised for investment in the transformation of services to Children and Families.
The level of Council Tax for each band is shown in the table below:
| Band | Council Tax | No. of dwellings |
|---|---|---|
| A | 810.89 | 28,887 |
| B | 946.04 | 33,979 |
| C | 1,081.19 | 32,668 |
| D | 1,216.34 | 24,152 |
| E | 1,486.64 | 18,699 |
| F | 1,756.94 | 12,792 |
| G | 2,027.23 | 11,837 |
| H | 2,432.68 | 1,693 |
Source: Cheshire East Finance
Note: These figures exclude contributions to Cheshire Police Authority, Cheshire Fire Authority and the Parish or Town Councils, which will be finalised for the Council meeting on February 25th.
The Cabinet recommended a General Fund Budget of £240,065,000, therefore the amount of Council Tax that the Borough Council is to levy is the Net Budget Requirement (£240,065,000) less Revenue Support Grant (£8,049,973) and less Business Rate Pool (£55,437,042), which leaves a Council Tax Requirement £176,577,985.
The Band D Council Tax of £1,216.34 is calculated by taking the net requirement of £176,577,985 and dividing it by the tax base of 145,171.05. The Council Tax base represents the number of properties from which the Council is able to collect Council Tax for 2010/11.
The Authority is constrained by Government powers regarding the expected level of Council Tax in 2010/2011 as set out in a recent letter from Barbara Follett MP which stated :
"As I said in my statement to the House of Commons, I am pleased that the average Band D council tax increase this year was 3%. The Government anticipates this amount to fall further in 2010/2011 whilst authorities protect and improve front line services.
"In fact, we expect the average Band D council tax increase in England to achieve a 16 year low in 2010/2011. The Government remains prepared to take capping action against excessive increases by authorities and to require them to rebill households for a lower council tax if necessary."
