Lincolnshire residents face police tax increase

Bills are made up of four different elements - Lincolnshire County Council, district councils, Lincolnshire Police and, depending where you live, town or parish councils.

Final figures have still to be decided although the county council, district council, and now the police have published their proposed figures.

Many town and parish councils have already decided their precepts - the amount they need to raise from council tax to cover predicted expenditure.

The county council plans to increase its share of bills by £45.18 for owners of an average Band D rated property.

At district level, East Lindsey is planning to add £4.95 to the annual Band D bill.

The figure for town and parish councils varies considerably.

Horncastle Town Council, for example, plans a £1.42-a-year increase, again for a Band D home.

Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones will present his budget for approval at a meeting at ELDC HQ at Manby, near Louth, on Friday.

He is proposing a 4.1% increase which will add £9.99 to Band D bills.

Overall, the increase will amount to a bill of £61.54 for a Band D property although it must be stressed that figure could increase or decrease - depending on which town or village you live in.

The overall increase will be smaller for Band A, B, or C rated homes - and larger for bigger properties.

The overall increase across Lincolnshire is less than expected, with many pundits previously predicting an average £75-plus rise.

In his report to be presented to members of the Police and Crime Panel on Friday, Mr Jones says the increase is needed for a number of reasons - including plugging on-going issues with levels of Government funding,

He acknowledges some extra Whitehall cash has been earmarked for the county, and adds the force is planning to welcome 50 out of a national figure of 6,000 new officers in the first tranche of recruitment promised by Boris Johnson.

His budget proposals include £60.6m for officers’ salaries and £3.2m for PCSO salaries

He explains a Band D property will now pay a police precept of £251.37, and the 4.1% increase will provide £2.4m more funding than last year.

Mr Jones stressed both he and Chief Constable Bill Skelly are pressing for a fairer funding deal from the Government.

Lincolnshire’s ‘police grant’ for the coming 12 months is £63.5 million, compared to £59.123 million in the last financial year.

Overall spending will go up from £126.966m last year to an estimated £133.447m this year because, Mr Jones says, of ‘significant external cost pressures.’