Skipton residents face rise in council tax (From Craven Herald)

Skipton residents face rise in council tax

11:45am Thursday 21st February 2013 in News

Skipton residents are facing an increase in council tax, even though the town council is asking for less cash than last year.

The council’s precept for 2013/14 will be £364,100, which is over £25,000 less than last year.

However, bills will still go up for the average Skipton household by £4.50 (just under 9p per week).

This is because last minute changes to the council tax system means the government is giving less money to local authorities.

The government cut the support grant paid to local authorities by around ten per cent.

It leaves councils having to increase the amount paid by residents just to receive the same money as last year.

After last week’s special meeting, council leader, Coun Chris Harbron, said the council and its officers had worked very hard to deliver an increasing level of services without increasing the budget.

He said: “On March 1, the town council takes over the running of Skipton Market, but the cost of us operating the market will not result in Skipton taxpayers paying a single penny more – and, thanks to the hard work we’ve done, we are adopting a budget for next year which shows no additional spending whatsoever.

“Although we worked really hard to make sure we didn’t need to increase the budget, we are faced with a situation where, even if we keep the amount people pay the same, the actual cash we receive would drop by nearly £50,000 – and that would mean closing facilities or reducing services.”

The government is providing a one off grant to local councils to help offset some of the shortfall caused by the changes.