Residents face 2.5% Kirklees council tax hike (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Residents face 2.5% Kirklees council tax hike

11:00am Monday 25th February 2013 in News

People in the Spen Valley will see their council tax rise by 2.5 per cent this year.

Kirklees councillors have set their budget for the next 12 months, with council leader Mehboob Khan branding it “the most difficult financial settlement in a generation”.

Councillor Khan admitted this year’s plan was unsustainable, with Kirklees Council having to dip in to its reserves.

He said: “We have had success in high priority ambitions like attracting private sector jobs to the area, but this budget does not achieve sustainability, even with the difficult cuts it contains. It uses £3m of reserves next year and £10m a year for the following two years to smooth the transition to a Council with an even lower funding base.

“We’ve already significantly reduced our management and back office costs and will continue to do this – our programme has saved £17.2 million so far.

“There are painful cuts in this year’s budget, but more fundamental changes and cuts will be necessary.”

A band D property in Kirklees will be hit with a bill of £1,435.82 in April.