District share of council tax rise below inflation
Published: 1:25 PM February 25, 2010
THE share of council tax going into district council coffers will increase by an inflation-matching 2.9 per cent, with the average household paying �2.34 a week for East Devon services.
But the leader of the district council at the full council meeting on Wednesday warned that bills could still go up by more than three per cent - because of increases from the Police Authority, the county council, the town council and the Fire and Rescue authority.
Leader Sara Randall Johnson defended last year's decision to freeze council tax despite criticisms that EDDC are in a financial mess now partly because they didn't.
Cllr Randall Johnson said it had given people a much-needed respite at the height of the recession - but that EDDC could no longer sustain borrowing from reserves to avoid moderate increases this year.
Last year EDDC had to borrow �1m from reserves to plug the gap and this year the figure is likely to be around �600,000.
But leader of the Liberal Democrats, Geoff Chamberlain, who backs this year's increase said:
"It would not have been necessary to increase bills this year if they had done what we advised."
The council has also agreed to increase council house rents by 3.1 per cent, and to increase car park charges per hour from 80p to �1