Taxpayers in Bexley are set to see a hike in their bills from April as the council files its budget for the next year.
It comes as the council considers plans to save cash from across its services – including how often bins are collected.
The authority has been looking at its accounts for months and is set to sign off on its financial plans at a meeting on March 8.
The council has had to find millions in savings as it works to become “self-sustainable” by 2022 – that means it will be operating without money from the government.
In plans to be discussed next week, the Conservative cabinet are to discuss hiking up council tax to generate more cash.
Two options are on the cards – a 1.99 per cent increase, with an extra two per cent on top of that for adult social care services, or a 2.99 per cent jump, again with the per cent per cent on top.
This would mean council tax for a band D property would be either £1,345 or £1,358 from April.
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“From the mid-2000s the council has faced a steady decline in Government funding and has had to be reliant on finding efficiencies and other sources of income to deliver the budget strategy,” officers said in a new report.
“However, since 2011/12 an accelerated rate of reduction in funding, at an unprecedented level, has resulted in the identification of savings being the dominant activity in the council’s financial planning process.
“Given the magnitude of savings over the medium term, which will require £31m in savings by 2023, before any decisions in this report, it is proposed that council tax is increased up to the threshold limit for 2019/20 to lock in the additional income.”
Tax increases could depend on whether bin collections – which are up for review at the same meeting – are moved to a 1-2-2 or 1-2-3 format, with the former not bringing in as much savings as the three-weekly option.
A 1-2-3 service would have residual waste collected once every three weeks, with alternating weekly dry collections of plastic etc. with paper and cardboard. A 1-2-2 option involves fortnightly dry recycling, again alternating, and fortnightly residual waste.
Officers said: “If cabinet agree to the ‘1-2-3’ waste collection service model option, it is proposed that the council tax general inflationary element will increase by 1.99 per cent and the adult social care precept by 2.00 per cent resulting in a gross increase of 3.99 per cent.
“If the ‘1-2-3’ waste collection service model option is not accepted, then it is proposed the inflationary element will increase by a further 1 per cent, resulting in a gross increase of 4.99 per cent.”
The large majority of residents who filled in a council survey on the bins did not support a three-weekly collection.
A decision on council tax will be recommended to full council for final sign-off in March, while the bins will be decided at a cabinet meeting on Monday, February 25.
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