Council tax up by £25

Feb 7 2008 By Steve Johnson And Gurdip Thandi

COUNCIL tax payers across the Black Country face an inflation-tracking rise in bills of around three per cent.

Council chiefs in Sandwell and Walsall are putting their final touches to spending plans which will mean council tax rising in line with inflation.

Sandwell's finance chief Coun Steve Eling unveiled a "people's priorities" budget which he said would keep this year's council tax rise low and boost the services which residents wanted. He predicted an inflation-matching increase in the borough's council tax of around three per cent, which works out to roughly £22 to £25 a year for most householders - less than 50p a week.

And Walsall Council unveiled proposals last night to implement a rise of 2.9 per cent .

Authority bosses said this would mean half the residents in the borough would have to pay only an extra 6p a day.

Walsall Council said the recommended proposed budget, to be rubber-stamped by the full council on February 25, would mean more money being spent on services.

But Dudley council tax payers face a bigger rise.

A proposed increase of 4.8 per cent is set to be rubber-stamped at a full council meeting on March 3.

Walsall Council leader Coun John O'Hare said: "We have a draft budget that does not hit Walsall people in the pocket but does allow us to make powerful strides towards improving people's lives.

"It is too early to say for sure as council taxes elsewhere have still to be finalised but we think our proposed rise of 2.9 per cent is one of the lowest in the Black Country."

Coun Eling, who said final budget proposals would be presented to Sandwell's ruling cabinet on February 27 before going to full council on March 4, pointed out the package would put cash aside for "rainy day" issues like equal pay.

He said the strategy behind the budget for Sandwell was to target money at the services the people of the borough had told the authority were their priorities, while also keeping the council tax rise to a minimum.

He said: "We have a long-standing commitment to keep tax rises down and I believe this year's proposals maintain that record and give residents of Sandwell a good deal.

"We have left no stone unturned in searching for efficiency savings."