Last night’s Council meeting agreed an increase of £5 (for a Band D property) in the District Council’s share of the council tax for 2016/2017. This is the first increase for five years and is a result of a change in government policy on grants. Over the five years of no increase in council tax, residents benefited from £2 million in freeze grant.
This means Band D council tax will increase by £5, which is 10p a week for a wide range of services including recycling and waste collection, planning, street sweeping, housing, housing benefits and children’s play areas.
Surrey County Council, which provides services including schools, adult social care, children services, roads, fire and rescue and libraries, together with the office of the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner, have both agreed to increase their Band D level for 2016/2017.
A Band D Council tax is split between the organisations as follows:
| Authority | 2015/2016 | 2016/2017 | Increase |
| Tandridge District Council | £193.62 | £198.62 | 2.58% |
| Surrey County Council | £1,219.68 | £1,268.28 | 3.99% (including 2% for social care) |
| Surrey Police & Crime Commissioner | £215.89 | £220.19 | 1.99% |
This gives an overall Band D Council Tax level of £1,687.09 for next year, which is a 3.55% increase compared to the current year. An average increase across the district including parish precepts is 3.63%.
Most people on income support, guaranteed pension credit or a low income will continue to have the cost of council tax fully met by council tax support. Other people will automatically have their council tax support recalculated to reflect their revised council tax bills.
Leader of the Council, Councillor Gordon Keymer said: “It is with great reluctance and after careful consideration we have agreed to increase council tax by £5 a year (for a Band D property), following a huge cut to our government grant in the next two years.
I am pleased we have also managed to maintain services. We will continue to work hard for residents to reduce our costs, in line with the national programme to reduce public sector expenditure.
“Our key objective is to make Tandridge a good place to live, work and visit, by providing high quality, customer friendly services making efficient and effective use of our resources. We don’t underestimate the challenges in future years, but residents can be assured we will continue to keep service standards high, while managing those services in a financially prudent way.”
“Ends”
For more information contact Giuseppina Valenza, Head of Communications, on 01883 732704.
Party spokesmen: Councillor Gordon Keymer CBE (Con) 01883 717363 and Councillor Jeremy Pursehouse (Lib Dem) 01883 623025.