Click either here or on the banner above to return to the front page

---

* * * News for 2^nd March 2007 * * *

All of Medway: 2^nd March 2007

At the special Budget Meeting of the Council last evening (Thursday 1^st March 2007), a Council Tax rise of just 4·49% was Voted for by the Conservative Group unanimously, voted against by the Labour Group (although they had no alternative proposals to offer) and the Liberal Democrats didn't support the Budget, though they did propose a few amendments, one of which was accepted by the ruling Conservative group.

John's speech to the Budget Council meeting can be read here.

The coming year's budget was against a backdrop of the usual government underfunding plus yet more unfunded additional costs imposed on local authorities by that same government, some of which have been outlined on this website in the past. There was also a matter of four-and-a-half million pounds of so-called floor damping that had been taken away

The resultant Band D Council Tax will be £991·89 plus precepts—an increased payment from the current year of just 82 pence per week. This remains the lowest overall Council Tax of just about any unitary authority in the country, and the lowest of any local authority in Kent (district plus county) by a fair margin, typically at least £150.

Here are the actual amounts for each Charging Band for 2007–2008, without any precepts:

Band A :	£	661·26	—	Band B :	£	771·47
Band C :	£	881·68	—	Band D :	£	991·89
Band E :	£	1,212·31	—	Band F :	£	1,432·73
Band G :	£	1,653·15	—	Band H :	£	1,983·78

And here are the amounts including Police and Fire precepts (which apply to all households) but excluding any Parish precept (as these apply only to particular areas):

Band A :	£	783·81	—	Band B :	£	914·45
Band C :	£	1,045·08	—	Band D :	£	1,175·72
Band E :	£	1,436·99	—	Band F :	£	1,698·26
Band G :	£	1,959·53	—	Band H :	£	2,351·44

There is a year-by-year table of Council Tax levels set by all Unitary Authorities nationwide in recent years on this website here.