Kent Lib Dems go for Zero council tax increase in "rainy day" budget

9.00.00am GMT Thu 18th Feb 2010

Lib Dem County Councillors have proposed a package of cuts at County Hall which would result in no increase to current Council Tax bills, and which would have no effect on services to residents. In a package totalling £10.4 millions of savings, the Lib Dems proposed:

• cutting Councillors Allowances ( £100,000) and top officers bonuses, ( £100,000).

• axing the free KCC newspaper "Around Kent" (£153,000) and cutting publicity budgets by 20% (£750,000).

• pulling the plug on the £600-per-call Health Watch call scheme (£200,000).

• using £2.5 million of savings from last year' s 2008-9 budget which have still not been spent. (in 2008-09 a £5 million underspend was put into an "Economic Downturn Reserve", which has been partially used to fund the £1m pothole purge. The Council already holds £25 million pounds in general reserves with a further £100 million in funds reserved for special projects).

• saving £5m by putting all council highway works out to competitive tender open to local smaller firms.

• taking the budget for the recently axed KentTV as a saving (£500,000).

The Lib Dems also said that Kent County Council should not put up the Council Tax for meeting Asylum Seeker costs, as these should be met by Government as in previous years (£3m).

The budget proposals from the Lib Dems, who are the official opposition to the Conservatives at County Hall, are amendments to the proposed 2010-11 Kent County Council budget which will be debated and agreed by Council on Thursday.

Lib Dem Leader Trudy Dean said:

"We should do everything we can to reduce the burden on Council Tax payers who are suffering the worst recession in thirty years. The Council has put aside money for a rainy day, and this is it.

"This year Kent County Council forgot to clear snow from the pavements, spent over a million pounds over five years getting rid of seven officers, and wasted two million pounds on the failed KentTV project. Most of our investment in Iceland is still not recovered. Council Tax payers in Kent should not be expected to pay more for this level of service."