Mansfield residents face inflation-busting council tax rise

Mansfield District Council is proposing to raise its share of the annual bill by 2.7 per cent “to help maintain vital council services in the district”.

Andy Abrahams, who was elected district mayor in May, said: “We regret we have to raise council tax by 2.7 per cent, which will bring in an extra £147,000.

“Government funding has reduced by 61 per cent over the past 10 years and the danger is if we don’t raise much-needed funds through council tax, the government will consider we don’t need this money in future and it will affect future funding for our district.”

The current rate of inflation is just 1.4 per cent

Former mayor Kate Allsop, who lost to Labour’s Mr Abrahams by just two votes, repeatedly fought against raising the authority's precept during her four-year term of office, “so residents aren’t burdened with additional financial pressures”.

Indeed, Mansfield council’s precept has not increased since 2011, when the government offered financial incentives to freeze the tax.

The council says the proposed rise means those living in band A properties, which makes up the majority of the district's housing stock, would pay a total of £126.48 a year towards Mansfield services, up £3.33 on 2019/20.

However, the district’s precept is just a small part of the council tax bill, with Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service all raising their share in recent years.

Councillors are meeting on Wednesday to decide on the 2020-21 budget, which includes “a total of £892,000 in savings out of a net budget requirement of £10 million in order to balance the budget at a time of increased demand on services and historical low levels of funding from central government."

Savings are earmarked to come through additional income from business rates, an additional one-off government grant, reduced insurance costs, reductions in pension contributions and rent from investment properties, as well as the tax rise.

The total council tax bill will be confirmed on March 3, once all the elements are known.