Lincolnshire County Council votes to freeze council tax
LINCOLNSHIRE County Council has today voted to freeze council tax for the coming year.
The authority says it has also taken steps to protect services that have an impact on public safety.
Coun Kelly Smith (Con), executive member for finance and HR, said: “This is a difficult time for everyone financially and we feel it’s important to do all we can to make life easier for our residents. That’s why we’re freezing council tax for the second year running.”
A spokesman said members took the decision to freeze council tax despite a further fall in the council’s formula grant from the Government. In the next financial year, Lincolnshire will receive 7.6 per cent – or £16.1m – less to spend on services.
Coun Smith added: “In the last year, the council has made savings of over £50m. And we’ve achieved this without severe cuts to frontline services or large-scale compulsory redundancies, relying instead on making the council ever more efficient.
“Despite our tough financial position, we have again protected services that have an impact on public safety, things like child protection, the fire service and road maintenance. And we also continue to invest in major infrastructure projects, such as the Lincoln Eastern Bypass and next-generation broadband, which will pave the way for renewed prosperity in Lincolnshire.”
The freeze in the county council’s share of the council tax has been made possible by a special one-off Government grant to authorities that agree to keep rises to 2.5 per cent or below.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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