Stockport Labour Group can reveal that residents face an overall rise of 3.75% in Council Tax bills from April 2016 under local Lib Dem Budget proposals. The increase would mean a total of £4.75 million more is levied from taxpayers next year than in 2015-16.

Councillor Alex Ganotis, Leader of the Labour Group, said ‘The Government are effectively forcing the Council into this position with huge cuts to central funding.

‘They have just won an election on a manifesto promise of ‘helping to keep your Council Taxes low’ and now base all their financial plans on an across the board rise of 3.75%. The hypocrisy is breath-taking.

‘This increase will mean an additional £40 each year for a Band A household and an extra £60 for Band D at a time when inflation is almost 0%. Council Tax is a regressive form of taxation meaning these rises hit those least able to pay the hardest.’

Stockport Council is facing massive cuts in support from Central Government over the next 4 years, with the Revenue Support Grant received to support local public services projected to fall from over £39 million in 2015-16 to only £3 million in 2019-20.

The Government announced £2 million of ‘transitional support’ for Stockport on 8th February, but that figure will only temporarily delay around 3% of the overall cuts expected to Council services over the next 5 years, which are expected to total £61 million.

Coun. Ganotis added ‘Even Council Officers are calling the new projections ‘alarming’ – the Government is expecting Stockport to generate around £26 million in additional Council Tax receipts over just the next 5 years, a 21% increase in our local taxes.

‘Stockport already suffers from high local taxation compared to other Councils in our region – bills are 14% higher than in Labour-run Manchester with residents in a Band D household paying £225 more every year than just across the border.

‘It looks as though things are going to get worse before they get better, with local people hit by another double whammy of higher bills and poorer quality services.’

Stockport Council meets to decide the 2016-17 Budget on Thursday 3rd March.