Cotswolds council tax, parking and garden waste fees may rise

Mike Evemy said the potential funding gap was "a scale beyond what we've had to look at in the last three years"

Council tax, parking charges and garden waste fees are set to rise from next year in the Cotswolds.

The district council is considering measures to plug a possible worst-case scenario funding deficit of £2m.

And as a result, councillors are debating a 1.99% council tax rise along with increases in car parking charges and garden waste fees.

Deputy leader Mike Evemy said the pressures are on "a scale beyond what we've had to look at" since 2019.

"The situation regarding inflation is absolutely causing us as a council to have a very significant funding gap that we are having to bridge," he added.

Cotswold District Council said it would consult local residents over the possible fee rises

"With the cost pressures of over £3m. Our net revenue budget is £12.5m. You can see how big that is."

He explained that the council had worked with firms Ubico and Publica to "generate savings" and it is "working on the basis that we will have more than £1m of savings to close that gap", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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Despite looking to increase revenues through tax hikes, he said the council was still faced with a "gap of about £1.5m, which is very significant".

Public to be consulted

The council does have revenue reserves but it still faced a "tough" financial picture based on an assumption of the government's current funding position.

Mr Evemy said that in a "best case scenario the council would have a deficit of £767,000 and in the worst-case scenario of almost £2m".

The council said it is keen to gather residents' views on the proposals.

A budget consultation survey will start on Tuesday and remain on the council's website until Friday, 9 December.

There will also be a series of engagement events held at supermarkets across the district, the council said.

Additional reporting by Ollie Pritchard-Jones

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