Cumbria County Council cabinet today set a draft budget for 2006/7 and now would like to know what residents think of it.
The draft propsosals put forward at the cabinet meeting in Carlisle imply an increase of 4.97 per cent in the county's share of next year's council tax - just below the Government's limit of five per cent.
The setting of the draft budget follows the publication last week of the Government's proposed funding settlements for local authorities across the country.
The first indications of funding levels for 2006/7 and 2007/8 were revealed after the local government finance system underwent the most significant reorganisation in 25 years.
Joan Stocker, budget spokeswoman and deputy leader of the county council, said: "There was some good news and some bad in the government's financial settlement.
"We did a little better than expected, with the 13th best county settlement of a 3.3per cent increase on last year. But the bad news was that £6million came out of our budget to cushion the negative effects the new arrangements would have had on other authorities.
"That has left us with a real challenge but we will continue to target our resources at frontline services while making efficiency saving where possible.
"People might ask why the increase in our share of the council tax next year might be above the rate of inflation. The answer is that the strain on council services grows all the time.
"There will be 700 more people over the age of 85 next year and those kind of changes put real pressure on us.
"We had to choose between holding a council tax increase down by one per cent or so and investing £1.5 million in adult social care to cope with providing care for an ageing population - we chose to invest in social care.
"This is the kind of choice involved in setting a budget. We have laid out our draft for everyone to have a look at and now we want to know what people think."
A summary, explanations and the extensive cabinet reports on the draft budget can be seen by going to the county council homepage at www.cumbria.gov.uk and following the links.
Extensive information about the draft budget agreed today is also contained in the notes of this release.