Carmarthenshire proposes 4.4% council tax increase

Carmarthenshire Council have announced a proposed 4.4% increase in council tax, around £1.15 a week more for the average Band D property.

Despite the proposed increase, the Council must still find and deliver £11.7million of savings over the next three years.

Council Tax raises around £105million a year and contributes to around a quarter of the total annual budget.

Councillors must also find a way to manage the increasing demand for certain services, such as social care, and inflationary pressures – including the rising cost of energy bills and increasing costs of paying the foundation living wage – as well as delivering day to day services and schemes that will benefit and grow the county’s economy.

The council say they continue to feel the impact and uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic, with increasing pressure on several service areas and the prospect of Welsh Government’s hardship funding coming to an end.

Cllr David Jenkins, Cabinet Member for Resources, said: “Unfortunately Welsh Government’s funding to councils has not kept pace with rising costs and increasing demands for our services, which is creating a budget shortfall every year.

“The settlement figure we’ve recently received appears healthy on the face of it, but with the Covid-19 hardship fund expected to come to an end, the settlement will have to contribute to the extra costs that we continue to face as we respond to the pandemic.

“We also face rising inflationary costs at the same time as increased demand on our services.

“We will continue to do the best we possibly can, identifying savings proposals that will have minimal impact on frontline services, but difficult decisions will need to be made.

“We truly appreciate the financial hardship that people are facing, and now more than ever we encourage people to get involved in our budget setting process.

“The more people that respond the better as we will have more feedback on which to base our decisions.”

The council’s budget consultation has now opened allowing people to view the proposed draft budget and have their say.

Councillors will consider the views expressed in the consultation when the budget is finally approved by Full Council in March.

People can share their views online at www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/consultations or by emailing consultation@carmarthenshire.gov.uk.

(Lead image: Wikimedia/Creative Commons)