West Lindsey: Council pledge to freeze Council Tax

West Lindsey District Council submitted its budget report to council on Monday 3rd March and it will not increase its share of the Council Tax for 2014/15 and it will invest more than £2m towards major projects.

Leader of the council, Coun Jeff Summers, said: “We know times are hard for many people so we are delighted to be able to freeze Council Tax protecting residents from increased bills.”

The council managed to find £1m of savings at a time when the budget allocation from central government is drastically reducing each year.

Coun Summers added: “We recognise it is a testing time for public services generally but we are focusing on getting the job done.”

“This means doing more of what local people value and protecting frontline services as we said we would. This budget is about growth and investment, at a time when others around us are looking at reducing, cutting and stopping, “

The council has also pledged its support to a new flooding relief scheme and it will offer 100 per cent Council Tax exemption for up to one year, to support residents affected by flooding.

However, the council is not complacent as it still needs to find £2m over the next two years to balance the budget.

John Rice, Interim Director of Commercial Services, said: “We are adopting a whole new commercial approach for the council, exploring income generating ideas whilst supporting local tax payers.”

“This includes developing a commercial approach to our surplus land for the purpose of improving the rate of return, whilst also reducing our running costs developing our waste services to maximise services, undertaking reviews of our services to identify efficiencies whilst also developing improved services for residents.”