"Reluctant" Backing for North Yorkshire Council Tax Increase

North Yorkshire County Council's element of council tax bills is to increase by 3.99%

That consists of a 1.99% general council tax increase and a 2.0% increase in the adult social care precept.

The conservative lead authority says the below inflation increase means it will have to dip into it's cash reserves next year.

The council say that the 3.99% increase results in a recurring shortfall of £18m and a need for reserves of £34.9m over the next three years.

The County Council consulted the public about its budget, including the level of council tax. Under Government rules, the authority can raise council tax by up to 1.99% from April, plus up to a further 2.49% for the adult social care precept.

County Councillor Carl Les, North Yorkshire’s Leader said:

“This is always a difficult choice, deciding what the council needs to do in its work in looking after our communities and residents, especially vulnerable ones, but also deciding what it is fair to ask the tax payer to pay, and what they can afford.

“This is especially true this year, with rising costs and inflation facing residents and council alike, and a huge demand for our essential services.

“We are facing an unprecedented range of risks – the continuing impact of Covid-19, harsh winters and climate change, the need for interventions to prop up social care, the escalating costs of transport for special educational needs students, to name but a few.

“These pressures are such that given the need to continue to deliver key services at a time of rising demand and the need to successfully transition to a new council, our final budget requires a higher degree of support from reserves than would otherwise be the case or is desirable. ”

Labour group leader Councillor Eric Broadbent agreed the increase was necessary.

The executive member for Finance, conservative councillor Gareth Dadd welcomed the cross party support.

The increase will mean the authority’s bills for the average Band D property increase by £56 to £1,467, in proposing the increase the authority's deputy leader and finance boss Councillor Gareth Dadd said the council’s budget aimed to protect services for vulnerable people while leaving “a legacy” for the new authority to inherit.

He told the meeting the increase struck a balance between those key ambitions and protecting taxpayers as “our instinct has always been to maintain a council tax rise as low as practically pragmatically possible.”

Coun Dadd said the authority had “gone some way to reducing the burden on the tax-paying public of North Yorkshire” by not levying the maximum 4.49 per cent council tax precept increase.

Leader of the council’s Independent group Councillor Stuart Parsons said the authority was banking on residents not noticing the council’s precept increase, alongside others being levied by the police and fire services and borough, district and parish councils, due to the government’s £150 council tax rebate for some households.

He said:

“What we have to remember is that £150 will disappear in a year. Then there is the cost of living crisis and we do not appear to be making any effort to help people with that.”

Councillor Parsons said there was a significant section of society that just missed out on financial help such as free school meals that could not afford the council tax increase.

Independent councillor for Malton Lindsay Burr added with high inflation, wages effectively falling and national insurance increases being introduced at the same time as the council tax hike in April, the authority had a chance to ease pressures on residents.

She said:

“Surely there has never been such a justified time to freeze the council tax and listen to all those residents who are pleading with us to try and help them. Average families are now having to use food banks.

“The perfect storm is gathering as we all know. Maybe it is time we stop and help a little bit and not add fuel to the fire.”

Councillor Bryn Griffiths told the meeting the Liberal Democrat group was also opposing the rise as adult social care was an urgent national issue.