County council sets out tax freeze plan (From Bucks Free Press)

County council sets out tax freeze plan

4:40pm Monday 7th January 2013 in News By James Nadal

TAX payers look set for another freeze in the money they provide to Buckinghamshire County Council.

It was recommended by the authority's cabinet today to keep the council tax freeze in place for a third year in a row.

The Conservative leadership of the council has set out its budget plans for 2013/14m, with the cap at the centre of the announcement.

BCC spokesman Aidan Shutter said the move comes despite £14.4m less funding from Government, and reflects the 82 per cent of residents who said they wanted it to stay the same.

He said: “On average, the combined effect of the three year freeze will see around £100 back in the pockets of hard-pressed local council tax payers.”

The budget of £335.2m also contains proposals to spend another £25m fixing the county's pot hole ridden roads.

Leader Martin Tett, said: "These are certainly tough times for local government so this budget had to be realistic. We've had to find significant savings, principally in staffing and 'back office' costs and we've also had to introduce new charges for services like home to school transport.

"Achieving a balanced budget was incredibly challenging but I believe its the best solution we could have reached given the situation we are in. I'm also proud that we've delivered the saving in council tax in these difficult times and I hope this will go at least someway to help residents cope with other rising household bills."

Further public consultation will take place and there will also be a review by the council's Overview and Scrutiny committee between 15-17 January involving sessions with Cabinet Members to question them on their budget proposals.

These sessions will open to the public and will be webcast live. Final decisions will be agreed by full Council on February 14.