Council maintains one of the lowest Council Tax rates in the country
Published Wednesday, 24 February 2021
The Borough Council is to increase its council tax charge for 2021/22 by £5 following a decision of the full council at its budget-setting meeting last night (Tuesday 23 February 2021).
This means the average Band D council tax (including the Special Expense Area) for Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council will increase to a charge of £139.87 for the 2021/22 financial year, the lowest in Leicestershire and anticipated to be the fifteenth lowest in England, and certainly within the lowest quartile.
This figure will be supplemented by the charges levied by Leicestershire County Council (£1,410.78), the Police and Crime Commissioner (£248.23) and the Fire Authority (£69.29).
Overall, this increase in council tax and the other measures set out in the council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy enable the council to plan with more certainty over the three years to 2034/24, to operate a balanced budget, to maintain and improve services year on year, and to deliver other priority projects and initiatives suggested by local communities.
Residents are reminded they can pay their bill annually, half-yearly or monthly. In a full year the monthly instalments will normally be paid from April to January, however residents can also opt to pay their council tax over 12 instalments if they prefer.
Councillor Keith Lynch, Executive Member responsible for Finance, said:
The last thing that the Borough Council wants to do at this time, during the coronavirus pandemic, when many are suffering financial hardship, is to increase the council tax but considerable reductions in Government support grants have put heavy pressure on the council’s finances. In the last spending review the Government promised new money for local government but it transpired that over 80{ef1beab3447d5cb220c3619d9fa65ddc127cf119fcf53b8ba61e2dc5c4a7776f} of that ‘new money’ needed to come from increased council tax. Therefore we have to raise the borough council tax by £5 (10p a week) to try to maintain our present level of public services. I am pleased to be able to say that even after the increase the Hinckley and Bosworth council tax will still be among the lowest in the country.
