Borough council plans to freeze council tax for fourth year

The proposal will go before a meeting of the council’s Cabinet on February 12.

Council tax bills are made up of three elements – Crawley Borough Council, West Sussex County Council and the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner.

A freeze would mean the borough council’s element of residents’ bills would be £187.83 for a band D property.

Last year, for every pound paid in council tax, the borough council received 13p, West Sussex County Council received 78p and Sussex Police received 9p.

A council spokesman said the budget would “protect frontline services and see continuing investment in the town despite a cut of more than 12 per cent in Government funding and retained business rates”.

More than half of the £14.455million budget for 2014/15 is made up of a government grant of £3.791million and business rates retention of £3.233million.

The proposed budget sees the council’s capital programme increase by almost £2 million over the next three years.

It proposes additional money for disabled facility grants, community safety improvement projects, a variety of water management schemes and a new green gym in Tilgate Park.

It will also fund maintenance of council-owned buildings, including the Town Hall, K2 Crawley and The Hawth.

Including affordable housing, the council will spend £70 million on capital projects over the next three years.

Cllr Howard Bloom, Leader of Crawley Borough Council, said: “We always try to balance our budget and continue to offer good value for money to our tax payers.

“We’ve made £8.8million of savings and efficiencies in the last six years and along the way the council has continued to invest in the town and encourage investors from both the public and private sectors.”

Following any recommendations put forward by the Cabinet, a final decision will be made by the Full Council at its meeting on Wednesday February 26.