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Brian Dash - Concerned about tax increases |
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The Conservative controlled New Forest District Council and Hampshire County Council have delivered more inflation busting increases in Council tax for the coming year.
Band "D" home owners in the New Forest area will now be asked to stump up a record £1,279 per year to meet the council tax demands of the two authorities. The District share has risen by 2.75% whilst the County Council rise is 4.7% - just under the 5% limit the government allows a council to set rises in any one year.
Despite the increases, Conservatives on the County Council are warning that there will have to be major cuts in services, even in adult social care.
Liberal Democrat County Councillor Brian Dash, the Member for Hythe says "Government grant to the County Council has been a lot more generous than when the Liberal Democrats were in power and yet the Conservatives are always complaining that they can't manage the finances.
These year-on-year increases in Council tax are hitting people really hard, especially those on fixed incomes. People will be rightly cynical that we get a record low level of council tax in election year.
The Tories used reserves last year to achieve this.
This year, the tax has gone up again whilst they put many back in reserves for the next election, all at a time when there is a crisis in adult care funding. We continue to argue for the council tax to be replaced altogether".
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