Councillors told: ‘You don’t know your own town’ as they reject calls for a freeze on council tax

The News can reveal the average bill this year for a Band D property in Horncastle will go up by around £45.

However, property owners in Louth will face a much lower rise after the town council voted to slash its precept by 14.5%.

That means owners of a Band D property will pay around £9 less for town council services.

In Horncastle, town councillor narrowly rejected calls for a freeze and voted for a 1% increase - equating to around 72p a year rise.

However, Councillor Alan Lockwood, whose motion not to increase bills failed, said: “I say well done to Louth, a council which thinks of its population and rewards them for the difficulties of the past year - not a council which 
assumes it knows better just because it can use its powers to dictate.

“I stand by why I voted against any increase for our town.

“And yes, I know our increase is a small amount but it’s not the money, it’s the leadership, knowing your town, being a part of it and doing the best for everyone.

“We didn’t need to increase rates this year and Louth have shown us that not only did they not need to increase rates but they could reduce them.

“Bravo Louth, a council who understands the difficulties our nation and communities are experiencing at this time.’

With elements for the county council, district council, police and town council added together, the rise for the owner of an average Band D-rated property in Horncastle will be around £45.

While the increase will add to financial pressures during the pandemic, it could have been much worse.

The county council and district council rises are below average.

The biggest percentage rise is 5.99%, imposed by the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones.

He says the increase - around £14 for a Band D home ‘will help pay for an additional 60 officers’.

The rise has still to be ratified and comes just days after the results in the PCC’s annual survey showed overwhelming support for an even larger increase than the one proposed.

The survey, completed by 3,243 people, asked respondents how much more they were prepared to pay in Council Tax – with 87% t agreeing to pay more.

In fact 77% of people said they were prepared to pay 10 % or more and more than a third said they were willing to pay a 20% increase.

Mr Jones said: “The outcome of the research is at odds with my personal feelings that given the current challenging situation for the personal finances of many in our community even a modest rise of around £1 a month would be too much to ask.

“I have, however, made no secret in previous years that I would respect the outcome of these robust consultations and so I cannot, in all conscience, choose to ignore it this year.

The county council rise is around £26 and the district council increase around £4.95 - again for a Band D property.

• Both authorities could have opted for a much steeper rise.