Notts fire authority expected to approve £5 council tax charge increase

Nottinghamshire Fire Authority will meet on Friday, February 28, to discuss giving the final go-ahead to the increase.

It would mean the portion of all Nottinghamshire council tax bills which goes towards the service would rise by 2.99 per cent – or £5 for each household – from April 1.

The new annual charge would be £97.21 per year for those in a Band D household.

For Band A households, a £5 increase would see rises in council tax to £64.81 per annum.

The rise would generate an extra £1.7million in funding for the service, documents say.

It would also help the service towards balance its books by cutting an expected annual budget gap to £887,000.

Reports also show 2.95 a per cent increase in council tax in the following financial years will control an expected budget deficit to 2029 to just over £1.7 million.

During a meeting on January 17, Nottinghamshire County Council chairman, Richard Butler (Con), a member of the authority, said he was voting for the recommendation “reluctantly” for the recommendation.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service following the meeting, Coun Butler said: “It’s an increase, all council tax payers are going to have to pay it and I naturally don’t like to support something that means more burden on residents.

“Every decision has to be taken on the individual need and financial position of the authority.

“I’m naturally as a Conservative, nobody likes tax increases, but circumstances at the fire authority means that we’ve had to go along with that.”

Coun Tom Smith (Con) said: “The fire service raises its own taxes, if they need more I don’t think political philosophies should come into that.

“If you need someone to put out your fires or rescue you from your house, it doesn’t matter, ideology – are you small tax or big tax – it doesn’t matter.”