Attempt to Reduce Rate Increase Blocked - 26/02/08

An attempt to reduce council tax increase was rejected by the Council at its full meeting this week Carmarthenshire’s tax has been set at an increase of 4.52% by the Labour/Independent group despite a proposal by Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths, Plaid Group leader to set the rate increase to under 4%.

Speaking after the County Council meeting today (26/02/08) Cllr Griffiths said:

"The Council should have foreseen that the budget was going to be tight. The London Government had indicated that it would be so for a long time and the Council should have planned accordingly. It will not do for the council to pass blame on to others.

The public will find it hard to understand why the rate is set well above inflation on the one hand, and on the other, is able to finance many major projects. The Council must prioritise better, otherwise front line services are going to suffer even more than in the past. If there is an increase above inflation the public have the right to expect better services."