Plans to raise council tax by four per cent at the same time as cutting public spending have been put forward by a town’s leaders.
The cost of living in a Band D household will go up by £1 per year from £23.19 under the proposal by Tring Town Council’s finance and policy committee.
This would help the authority raise an extra £4,700.
Town councillor Nick Hollinghurst said other public authorities are considering increases to the amount paid to them in tax also.
He said: “The amount that we are proposing will simply be small change.”
Meanwhile, the town council could cut £1,000 from the amount it gives to community groups each year and £700 from its funding for Christmas lights.
Mr Hollinghurst said the £1,000 was ‘little’ compared to the annual £10,000 budget he has as county councillor to spend on the Tring area.
Meanwhile, just putting lights at the top of the town’s Christmas tree would prevent the vandalism of lower down lights, he said.
The changes would help the council balance its budget in the next financial year after producing a £16,700 deficit – funded by cash in its reserves – for the current year.
The proposals were made at a Monday meeting. The town council will decide at a meeting on Monday, January 27, will if they should go ahead.
Berkhamsted Town Council’s finance and policy committee recommended at a Monday meeting that the authority’s council tax precept should stay at the annual £19.18 it receives at the moment.
