Members of Denbighshire County Council’s Cabinet are to recommend to Full Council that the council tax increase in the county should be kept to 1.5%, one of the lowest increases in the whole of Wales.
The Cabinet, meeting at County Hall today (Tuesday) were updated on the latest budget position.
The Council has already identified £5. 2 million savings for the 2016/17 financial year and no further cuts are required at this stage.
Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Cabinet Lead Member for Finance and Assets, said: “The settlement announced by the Welsh Government on 9th of December 2015 was much better than expected with an overall cash reduction of 1.2% to Denbighshire. The Council had previously been working towards an assumed reduction of 4% in funding (which equates to around £5.6 million).
“This now means that the Council is in a position to propose a lower increase in council tax, with some of the benefits of the settlement passed on to the taxpayer.
Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: “Residents have told us that they would like to keep increases as low as possible and we are pleased to be in a position to respond positively to this.
“The proposed budget also takes into account an increase in funding to schools to meet the national level of protection and to set aside £480,000 to mitigate the risks to the delivery of this budget.
“The Council has worked hard over recent years to be more efficient and effective in the way that it works, whilst identifying cuts that have the lowest possible effect on frontline services provided to the public."
The final budget for 2016/17 will be discussed at the Full Council meeting being held at County Hall on Tuesday, January 26 at 10am.
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