Leader's Blog
Councillor Stuart Langhorn
Hello and welcome to my blog. I'll be posting about all sorts of issues which I hope you find of interest. If you'd like to comment on any of the issues I raise, or would just like to ask me a question, please email me at leader@lancaster.gov.uk
Councillor Stuart Langhorn, Leader of the Council
March 10, 2010
ON Wednesday (March 3) the city council formally set its budget for 2010/11.
In doing so we increased Council Tax by 3.75% - the lowest increase in a number of years.
While this may seem higher when compared the the county council’s increase of 0%, don’t forget that of your overall Council Tax bill we, as a district council, get just 13%.
From April the average bill for a Band D property will be £1,510.47.
Of this we will receive £192.50 (an increase of £6.94 on this year’s rate of £185.31) so as you can see we don’t receive as much as it may first seem!
Setting budgets is always hard and this year’s will prove to be no exception.
Not only do we have to take into account the effects the recession has already had on our budget (with a reduction in fees from planning applications, building regulations etc) but also what the effects might be in the future.
The banking crisis means that whichever party wins the next election public spending will have to be dramatically reduced, and local authorities will have to play their part.
With Government grants making up more than 60% of our budget any decrease in the support we receive will have a serious effect on our budgets.
A number of tough decisions have had to be made to balance our books and some of you may be unhappy with the choices we have made.
Equally, many of you will be pleased that we have been able to protect those services which you most enjoy and find worthwhile.
Whichever it is you can be assured that we take into account all your views and try and make sure that our limited resources are targeted towards our priority areas and those with the most demand.
Now that the 2010/11 budget has been set we start the hard work on 2011/12’s!
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