Caerphilly Aims For Lowest Council Tax Rise In Wales

Caerphilly county borough council’s Cabinet has proposed what is likely to be the lowest Council Tax increase in Wales for 2017/18. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The 1% rise was agreed at a meeting of the authority’s Cabinet on Wednesday 15th February and this will now be considered, alongside the full 2017/18 budget proposals, at a meeting of Full Council next week (Wednesday 22nd February). ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Residents living in a Band D property would see an increase of just 19p per week under the proposals. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Cllr Barbara Jones, Caerphilly’s Deputy Leader said, “Last year we agreed the lowest Council Tax increase in Wales and I’m delighted that we are in the fortunate position of proposing the same level of increase again this year. I’m sure our residents across the county borough will welcome the fact that we are limiting the Council Tax increase to just 1% for 2017/18.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Our budget proposals are fair and well thought out. We have pledged that this authority will work hard to protect services, protect staff and protect the vulnerable in the community. It’s good to see that we are honouring this pledge with our budget proposals.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Cabinet is also recommending that £3.5million should be allocated to meet ongoing financial pressures for Social Services, while school funding should increase by 1.25%, which equates to £1.334million in 17/18. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The link to the full budget report on the CCBC website can be found here:
http://www.democracy.caerphilly.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=127&MId=10620 ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​