North Devon freezes its council tax

Council says it will not increase tax or the cost of many services, including hourly parking rates.

NORTH Devon Council has announced it has frozen its council tax for this year, with most fees and charges including hourly car park rates, also staying the same.

The decision was approved by councillors at a meeting of the full council last night (Wednesday) after being recommended by its executive committee last month.

The council said despite having to find savings totalling £1.3million to balance the books, there would be no impact on services to its customers or any compulsory redundancies at this time.

“Despite facing cutbacks from central government, we are able to freeze North Devon Council’s share of the council tax,” said the Leader, Councillor Brian Greenslade.

“We have had to make some difficult decisions to balance our budget and we are facing tough times ahead, as further government cuts mean we have to find a further £1.4m of savings over the following three years.”

The council said for everyone pound collected as council tax, it receives an estimated 11 pence, the rest going to police and fire services as well as the county and parish councils.

Council tax payers are to receive a more detailed explanation of the breakdown with their bills next month.