Knowsley residents face paying another £61 in Council Tax this year as the local authority hopes to avoid more spending cuts.
Under plans set to be considered next week, Knowsley Council would raise its portion of Council Tax by 4.99%.
This would be the sixth year in a row that the council has increased residents’ tax bills, with most residents having to pay another £51 to make up for lost government funding.
On top of that, the police and crime commissioner is likely to ask for an extra £10 a year to pay for more police officers, seeing most residents facing a total bill of almost £1,300 for the year.
The increase would mean that residents’ Council Tax bills had increased by 30% since 2016, or more than £300.
In a report prepared for the council’s cabinet, officers said the local authority was becoming increasingly reliant on Council Tax to fund essential services following more than a decade of government cuts.
Knowsley has had to slash around £100m from its budget since 2010, but aims to avoid making further cuts this year thanks in part to the proposed tax rise.
The cabinet report warned that the government “expected” councils to increase tax by the maximum amount allowed, meaning Knowsley could miss out on future funding if it did not.
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The report said: “In recent years, the government has pursued a strategy of using Council Tax to sustain key services like adult social care, and is passing the burden onto council taxpayers rather than itself providing sufficient funding.
“Given the future funding uncertainty and the ongoing government strategy for funding local government services, foregoing permanent Council Tax increases (which are allowed and expected by the government) may leave the council in a difficult position in future years and lead to potential future service cuts.”
The rise includes a 3% increase specifically to fund adult social care, with another 1.99% to fund general spending.
However, the council expects that the tax increase will mean it returns a £3.8m budget surplus next year.
The cabinet report added that this surplus, along with other funds, would mean the council had around £8.7m to spend on “one-off” investments in improving priority services and aiding the borough’s recovery from Covid-19.
The council is yet to reveal what it plans to spend these funds on, but should make an announcement about its intentions “in the coming weeks”.
