19/2/2009 - County Council sets lowest ever council tax rise in 2009/10 Budget : Cumbria County Council

The lowest ever increase in the county council's share of council tax has been agreed at a Full Council meeting in Kendal today.

The county council's share of council tax, which is roughly three quarters of the total council tax bill for householders, will increase by 2.5% in the Budget agreed today. This represents a rise of just 8 pence per day on a Band D property.

From April 2009, council tax will be set at the following levels for each property band.

Band A (up to £40,000) £759.89

Band B (£40,001-£52,000) £886.54

Band C (£52,001-£68,000) £1,013.19

Band D (£68,001-£88,000) £1,139.84

Band E (£88,001-£120,000) £1,393.14

Band F (£120,001-£160,000) £1,646.44

Band G (£160,001-£320,000) £1,899.73

Band H (£320,001 and over) £2,279.68

At the Full Council meeting today a number of amendments were agreed to the Draft Budget proposed by Cabinet.

The amendments are as follows:

- An extra £2.5m will be spent in 2009/10 improving the county's highways network. The extra funding for highways will be split proportionately between the county's six districts using the existing calculation formula. This means that a total of £28.6m will be spent on highways maintenance in 2009/10. In addition to the capital cash boost, the highways maintenance revenue budget has been increased by £500,000 for each of the next three financial years.

- An extra £300,000 will be spent for each of the next three years expanding the number of routes that are gritted in the winter. This increases the annual winter maintenance budget to £4.1m.

- Increasing the amount of money that can be spent in every division in the county for small-scale capital projects such as minor road improvement schemes from £10,000 in the Draft Budget to £12,000.

- A further £143,000 on top of the £150,000 already proposed will be spent next year on school clothing grants, with an extra £125,000 committed for each of the financial years in 2010/11 and 2011/12. This means eligible secondary school pupils will be entitled to grants of £35 a year and primary school children £25 a year.

- An extra £273,000 will be spent promoting cultural events, including the Cumbria Cultural Olympiad programme leading up to the London 2012 Olympics.

- An extra £50,000 a year will be spent on paying invoices from small businesses earlier to help them with their cash flow during the recession.

- Supporting the Eden and South Lakeland Regeneration Board by £75,000 in 2009/10 and £100,000 in both 2010/11 and 2011/12.

The extra investment in the Budget has been made possible thanks to revised inflation estimates from those outlined in the Draft Budget. The revised inflation estimates are predicted to save the council over £1.2m extra for each of the next three years. An extra £273,000 has been deployed from the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive scheme. Today's Budget also agrees to save an extra £153,000 a year for each of the next three years through changing the way various grants are handled and the way vacancies at the council are filled.