Would you support a council tax increase of 6% or more? Have your say on Wrexham Council’s budget plans now!

Would you support a Council Tax increase of up to 6% to help “support essential frontline services” in Wrexham?

There are just over two weeks left to have your say in Wrexham Council’s Difficult Decisions consultation – a process which is asking members of the public how they think the local authority can save an additional £9 million between 2019/20.

These savings are in addition to the £33.8 million worth of cuts and savings made locally over the past five years.

Previously there has been some reluctance from the administration to increase Council Tax, with Wrexham seen as having one of the lowest.

Last year proposals to increase Council Tax by 3.9% received a mixed response from the public, with 34% of people stating said they would agree to a rise higher than 3% but not higher than 5%. 50% of consultation participants supported the then planned rise of 3%.

Earlier this year such an increase was approved by councillors.

This year members of the public are again being asked to consider a Council Tax increase of up to five per cent or six per cent or more. For a Band D property for example, an increase of six per cent or more would cost approximately £5.45 extra a month.

This, Wrexham Council say, is in order to “support essential frontline services that you, as residents, feel are important”.

Members of the public / participants in the survey are presented with the following two options for consideration:

– In order to go some way towards supporting adults’ and children’s social care and schools’ budgets, would you agree to an increase in council tax of up to 5%?

– In order to support these services, and support an increase in the funding to the NW Fire and Rescue Service (preventing a reduction of services from them), would you agree to an increase in council tax of 6% or more?

There is also the option to choose ‘I don’t know’ and offer your feedback on the proposals.

Details provided in the Difficult Decisions consultation about the proposals, state: “Council Tax is a locally raised tax that is payable on all domestic properties.  It is made up of three separate elements – a Wrexham County Borough Council charge, a North Wales Police Authority charge and a Community Council charge.

“Wrexham County Borough Council collects all of these charges and retains the amount due to itself and pays the Police Authority and the individual Community Councils the amounts collected on their behalf.

“The amount paid is dependent on the ‘Band’ into which a property has been placed.  These bands range from ‘A’ to ‘I’ with ‘A’ being the lowest charge up to ‘I’ being the highest charge made.  Reductions are also made where a person lives alone or a property is vacant.

“For 2019/20 we are considering a range of options, including an increase in council tax equivalent to 6% in a Band D property, due to the ongoing pressure of austerity.

“We appreciate that this is more than in previous years, and we understand that budgets are tight for everyone, however, in order to help cover rising costs and to protect front-line services as much as possible, we are asking you to consider supporting this proposal.

“This will help us to protect, as much as possible, those services that are a high priority to you – such as schools; and to meet the increased demands placed on adults’ and children’s social care.

“As a Local Authority, we also have to contribute to the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, and this year we have been asked for an increased amount.  An increase in council tax will mean we can fund the Fire and Rescue Service in the way they have requested (e.g. a 0.65% rise in council tax will help them maintain the two fire engines at Wrexham Fire Station).

“Last year the increase in council tax across Wales ranged from 3.3% to 12.5% – in Wrexham we increased by 3.9% – the third lowest increase across Wales, and below last years’ North Wales average of 5%.

“Our council tax has always been one of the lowest in Wales, and nationally, of the 250 Local Authorities in England and Wales, our residents pay the seventh lowest council tax rate.

“Each year the Welsh Government does an assessment of how much it expects each Local Authority to need to spend to deliver its services (known as the Standard Spending Assessment).

“It then provides a proportion of this funding, and the rest has to be made up from generating income and council tax.

“In order to meet the budget that Welsh Government states we will need, we would actually need to increase council tax by around 13%.

“We are not proposing to do this and so we currently bridge this funding gap through very tight budgetary control and being as efficient as possible.”

So what happens next?

Once the consultation closes, the results will be analysed and findings presented to all councillors in December.

These findings will help shape the decision making process for the budget for 2019/20. This will then be presented to the executive board in January 2019 for approval before being formally signed off by Full Council in February 2019.

Wrexham Council never listen anyway!

A comment frequently seen on social media and now acknowledged and addressed by Wrexham Council as part of the consultation promo.

In a statement published by Wrexham Council on its news blog earlier today, the local authority says it recognises people’s “frustration when it comes to consultations and the responses to them” and that the choices being put forward won’t be popular ones.

However Wrexham Council is urging people to take part, stating: “Since the start of austerity in 2008/9, every organisation has had to go to the public to find out what they think about some of the difficult choices they’ve had to make, as budgets have got increasingly tighter. And as cuts have continued, many feel that they’re not being listened to.

“But by not saying anything, or by writing this consultation off, you miss the chance to have your say. Don’t.

“As we noted above, these are services that impact on everyone – so the more people that have their say, the better.”

How can I take part in Wrexham Council’s Difficult Decisions 2019/20 Consultation?

You can complete the consultation / read some further information about the proposals on the Your Voice Wrexham website.

Paper copies are also available by request by calling 01978 292000.

You have until November 28th to have your say on the potential changes to bin collections – and other proposals.

We will be providing a break down on the various other proposals featured before the consultation closes, so keep an eye out and make sure you have your say!