Published: 11/03/2010 12:00 -
Updated: 11/03/2010 11:18
UTTLESFORD residents will pay the district council more for its services from next month than their East Herts neighbours – and their total council tax bill will be higher.
The district council’s charge for a band D property in 2010-11 will go up from £143.28 to £147.42 – a rise of 2.9 per cent as opposed to 2.4 per cent in East Herts.
And residents living in Dunmow and Saffron Walden – the district’s two biggest towns – will pay £1,541.89 and £1,539.13 compared with £1,499.77 in Bishop’s Stortford and £1,466.53 in Sawbridgeworth.
This year, Uttlesford District Council needs to collect £49.2m in tax, of which it will keep 10 per cent. Just under three-quarters of this figure will go to Essex County Council, while 13 per cent of this will be shared between the county’s police and fire authorities. The remainder will be collected by town and parish councils.
Uttlesford says the recession has affected all of its services, with rising unemployment contributing to a rise in benefits claims.
In an explanatory leaflet which will be sent to every home in the district, the council says it has spent its cash more efficiently than most – it claims to have saved each band D property £61 in the past year by reducing costs, while the average for UK councils is £41.
In a 2009 Audit Commission report into Uttlesford’s use of resources, the watchdog awarded it two stars and said it was “performing adequately”.
In Stansted, £59.22 of each band D property’s £1,491.93 bill will go to the parish council, which needs £103,150 to cover its administration costs and is putting up £15,250 to hire an extra police community support officer for the village.
Dunmow’s town council is asking for £384,941 in total, just over £70,000 of which will be spent on administration; £57,532 will be spent on the Foakes Memorial Hall in Stortford Road, where many of the town’s social events are held, while £37,000 will go towards the Dourdan Pavilion in The Causeway and other recreational areas.
Meanwhile, Essex County Council wants 1.9 per cent – or 39p a week – more from each band D household, which is the same rise as last year and, it claims, one of the lowest of any county council in the country. It has pledged to keep next year’s rise below the rate of inflation, which stands at 3.5 per cent, and outlined plans to save £300m over the next three years.
And residents living in Dunmow and Saffron Walden – the district’s two biggest towns – will pay £1,541.89 and £1,539.13 compared with £1,499.77 in Bishop’s Stortford and £1,466.53 in Sawbridgeworth.
This year, Uttlesford District Council needs to collect £49.2m in tax, of which it will keep 10 per cent. Just under three-quarters of this figure will go to Essex County Council, while 13 per cent of this will be shared between the county’s police and fire authorities. The remainder will be collected by town and parish councils.
Uttlesford says the recession has affected all of its services, with rising unemployment contributing to a rise in benefits claims.
In an explanatory leaflet which will be sent to every home in the district, the council says it has spent its cash more efficiently than most – it claims to have saved each band D property £61 in the past year by reducing costs, while the average for UK councils is £41.
In a 2009 Audit Commission report into Uttlesford’s use of resources, the watchdog awarded it two stars and said it was “performing adequately”.
In Stansted, £59.22 of each band D property’s £1,491.93 bill will go to the parish council, which needs £103,150 to cover its administration costs and is putting up £15,250 to hire an extra police community support officer for the village.
Dunmow’s town council is asking for £384,941 in total, just over £70,000 of which will be spent on administration; £57,532 will be spent on the Foakes Memorial Hall in Stortford Road, where many of the town’s social events are held, while £37,000 will go towards the Dourdan Pavilion in The Causeway and other recreational areas.
Meanwhile, Essex County Council wants 1.9 per cent – or 39p a week – more from each band D household, which is the same rise as last year and, it claims, one of the lowest of any county council in the country. It has pledged to keep next year’s rise below the rate of inflation, which stands at 3.5 per cent, and outlined plans to save £300m over the next three years.
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