CITY COUNCIL BUDGET AGREED

By Alex Perkins, Liberal Democrat Canterbury City Council Leader

 

Canterbury City Council's budget for 2005, proposed by City Council Leader Cllr Alex Perkins (LibDem), has been approved by the Full City Council.

The Council budget, which means the City Council's share of the council tax will increase by just 3.9%, was approved on Thursday.

Canterbury, the highest scoring Liberal Democrat-led authority in the country in the recent District Auditor's CPA review of all local councils (5th place nationally), has a record of sound financial management and received top marks in the country for their performance management.

Conservative opposition members did not propose any specific cuts in services although ex-Council Leader Peter Lee (Conservative) from Herne Bay said that the increase was too low and should have been at least 10%. Cllr Alex Perkins refuted this proposal. "Our council tax increase is the lowest of any district in Kent. We provide a higher level of service than any other council for one of the lowest levels of council tax. We are proud of that. Only 12% of council tax goes to Canterbury City Council. Conservative run Kent County Council gets over 73% of it to spend on roads, pavements, pot-holes and traffic jams."

The Canterbury City Council element of the total Council Tax bill is about £149 per year for a band D property - one of the lowest charges in Kent.

Canterbury City Council have been rated as an excellent local Authority by the independent District Auditor who rated them 5th highest scoring council in the country.

More on this story :
Council sets sights on adding value in new budget
Axe the Tax : why Council Tax is unfair (Council Leader Alex Perkins)
Council Tax system in permanent crisis (Edward Davey MP)
One-off grant settlements no substitute for action (Chris Clarke OBE)