Council tax bills to rise by £90 a year in city

Council tax bills in York are set to rise by 5% after the city's authority agreed an increase which would add an extra £90 to the average annual Band D payment.

The council's ruling executive board met to debate the next Budget on Tuesday and proposed a raft of measures to generate revenue and plug shortfalls.

Katie Lomas, the senior city councillor in charge of finances, said: "We completely recognise the pressures that people are facing through the cost-of-living crisis.

"We are facing those pressures too. We're facing inflation of cost of service for everything we do, and inflation of demand for those services. That is why we have to increase our council tax."

If approved, the 4.99% increase would mean the total cost of a Band D bill would be more than £2,000.

All the proposals agreed at the debate - including plans for "significant" increases to car parking charges - will now go to next month's full council meeting for final approval.

Two per cent of the increase would go towards the cost of social care, and the other 2.99% will fund council services.

The overall budget proposals include plans to invest £8m into adult social care and £2.7m on children's social care.

£9m has been allocated to cover the costs of inflation, and the effect it has had on the cost of delivering council services.

The council's Labour leader, Claire Douglas, said: "By focusing on the services that residents value most and supporting our most vulnerable communities, we are taking a balanced approach that delivers for the city."

But the council's opposition leader, Liberal Democrat Nigel Ayre, said parts of the Budget plan would hit the city's poorest and most vulnerable the hardest.

He said proposals to raise most of the council's fees and charges by 5% - and rents by more than 2.5% - would affect those least able to pay.

"Those increases across the board are not something that reflects the way we want to protect the most vulnerable in society.

"They impact everybody. Probably those that can afford it are impacted the least, those that can least afford it are disproportionately affected," Ayre added.

Conservative group leader Chris Steward said it was "disappointing" that Labour was looking to increase council tax by the maximum amount.

During its successful 2023 local election campaign, Labour had said it would freeze council tax if it took control of the council, Steward said.

He added: "The budget looks very short term with spending for headlines and ducking the real choices needed."

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