· Burnley Borough Council passes 1.99% increase in council tax.
· Labour, Liberal Democrat, BPIP and Green Councillors vote for the increase.
· Conservative Councillors vote against increasing council tax.
Burnley Borough Council have approved a Council tax increase by the maximum permitted amount of 1.99% for all residents from April after being voted for by all parties except the local Conservatives.
Justifying the decision, the Council says it’s needs to increase their share of the overall council tax bill in order to ensure essential services are maintained.
However, the Conservative group opposed the budget citing what they described as “wasteful spending” at a time when “people’s pockets are already being squeezed”.
The Conservative Council group said:
“With people’s pockets already being squeezed we couldn’t agree to a Council tax increase at Burnley Borough Council. Looking through the budget they proposed spending £45,000 on a Climate Change Officer role, £72,000 on Carbon Literacy Training for staff and a whole host of other wasteful projects.
The borough has seen its core funding from government increase, has managed to hold significant reserves throughout Covid-19 and has even been able to purchase Charter Walk on top of funding the escalating repair cost of the town hall.
To then come back to residents and increase council tax by the maximum amount allowed before triggering a local referendum is unacceptable and is why every Conservative on the council voted against this council tax rise”.
The council tax increase was supported by Labour, Liberal Democrat, BPIP and Greens councillors, with an amendment brought by the Green Party to spend an extra £15,000 on 30 new allotments added in on the night.
Core funding from the Government has seen the Council’s budget increase for the next financial year.
Comments