Opposition Independents accuse Tories of picking Nottinghamshire pockets with council tax rise

The Independents were reacting to the announcement by the Tory-led authority of plans to increase council tax for all Nottinghamshire households by up to 4.84 per cent to help balance the books.

This will mean a rise of close to £85 a year for the average band D property.

The council says this means the majority of households will see an increase of less than £1.15 per week, although the average increase for all households across the county will be £1.36.

The council is also not raising tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent allowed.

While not unexpected, the proposed rise put more financial pressure on residents still enduring the cost of living crisis as the Indepdendent say it represents a 33 per cent total increase in council tax since 2017, when the Conservatives took over running the council – initially in coalition with the Mansfield Independents and then sole control after the 2021 elections.

Further figures released by the Indepenents show that there has been a whopping increase of £455.11 in band D council tax in the last seven years, which they claim is unsustainable.

At the same time, Nottinghamshire has lost close to £1bn in Government support due to funding cuts.

Coun Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), Independent Alliance leader, said: “For the average band D council tax payer, this increase is a step too far.

“Conservative Government funding cuts have led to the Conservative councils like Nottinghamshire passing the cuts on to the hard-pressed council tax payer.

"Year on year, council tax has risen – yet the Tories at County Hall are championing not putting council tax up by the maximum five per cent.

"This will save residents £2.89 a year or about 5p a week, which will be no consolation to those living on the breadline.

“Residents can just look outside their windows to understand that the Tories are letting them down.

"Our broken roads and pavements are in a diabolical state, yet this is what a large part of their council tax pays for.

"The Independent Alliance is currently looking at the budget options and unless there is a significant uplift in highways funding, we will not support this increase.”