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HAVE YOUR SAY: Hertsmere Borough Council draft budget open for public comment

 Published on: 23rd January 2022   |   By: Lizzie Ellis   |   Category: Uncategorized

Residents across Hertsmere have the opportunity to make their views heard on the budget for the next financial year (2022/23).

The checks and balances for the forthcoming year have been reviewed and the draft revenue budget is now open for public comments before it is put forward for final approval at a full council meeting on February 23, 2022.

The draft budget offers a detailed insight into the current economic and other external influences on the budget including the ongoing and unprecedented financial impact and lost income resulting from the COVID pandemic, and also explains how central government funding has helped to offset some of this shortfall.

Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Abhishek Sachdev, explained: “There’s now an opportunity for everyone to review our proposals and provide us with comments.

“We are recommending an increase of £5 for our share of council tax in the budget for this forthcoming financial year which will be essential to enable us to continue to deliver our range of services for Hertsmere’s residents.

“With the high cost of living at present, this proposed 2.7 per cent increase is well below the current rate of inflation showing that we are doing all we can to minimise the impact on our residents whilst continuing to maintain those services.

“The draft budget also reflects the impact the pandemic has had on our services with increased demands in some areas, such as waste services due to increased working from home, and decreased income from some of our other services.

“We will be seeking final approval of our budget at full council at the end of February and, in the meantime, welcome comments on the proposals.”

In order to help fund the proposed budget, a £5 increase in council tax bills is being proposed, the same rise as last year. This would represent less than 10p increase per week per average household for the coming year.

Under the proposals, a resident in a Band D property would pay an average of £192 in council tax for services for the year 2022/3 – equivalent to 53p per day.

The proposed council tax charge will fund the services the council provides including waste and recycling; local planning; housing; parks and open spaces; street cleaning and environmental health; benefits administration and contributions towards Police Community Support Officers and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

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