Councillors commit to keeping rates increase down

Councillors commit to keeping rates increase down

Councillors yesterday agreed to no more than a 5% general rates increase as part of the 2022-23 Annual Plan. Their decision honours the commitment they made during last year’s Long-term Plan consultation to keep the increase at 5%.

When deciding to go with the rates increase of 20% last year, as a one-off reset, to balance the budget and undertake the increasing amount of work we are required to do, councillors said the following years’ rates increases would be 5%.

Chairman Nicol Horrell said councillors were committed to keeping the increase to a maximum of 5%, despite an increasing number of financial challenges and many other councils around the country being forced to introduce rates increases higher than those set in their Long-term Plans.

“We are operating in a really challenging environment and it’s difficult to make decisions with any level of certainty, but we agreed last year that our ratepayers need some clarity about rate increases and we’re determined to stick to that,” Chairman Horrell said.

“In the past year, we’ve only seen things become more challenging with a range of increasing costs, including construction costs, fuel and inflation.

“We understand that our ratepayers are also facing a big increase in general costs of living and we are trying to keep rates increases to the absolute minimum.”

The Council doesn’t expect to consult on this year’s Annual Plan, as there are no significant changes which trigger the need for consultation.

A huge amount of work went into the 2021-31 Long-term Plan, which sets out the work programme and costs for the next 10 years, with a particular focus on the first three.

The Long-term Plan was developed during a time of uncertainty due to Covid and its impact on things like cruise ship revenue and investment income.

“We still have no certainty about when cruise ships will return and to what level they will return, so we have to budget without this significant income stream.”

The war in Ukraine and global disruption as a result of Covid continue to contribute to uncertainty with investment income.

Note: Actual amounts for individual ratepayers always vary due to differences and changes in property valuations.