Gloucestershire borough councils approve council tax rises

Tewkesbury Borough Council says the fees residents pay are still among the lowest in the country

People in Tewkesbury will pay more council tax after the borough council approved a 3.72% rise.

The borough council agreed a budget of £11.3m for the upcoming financial year at a meeting on Tuesday.

It took about five minutes for councillors to approve the increase, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Tewkesbury Borough Council said even with the rise, its rate was still among the lowest in the country.

Councillor Robert Vines, lead member for finance and asset management, said: "Households will on average pay us less than £2.70 a week to have bins emptied, benefits paid, fly tips cleared, food premises inspected, planning applications considered and much more."

The budget was approved by 28 votes in favour and four abstentions.

The final bill residents pay will include the £1,523.78 county council costs, plus £295.05 per year towards the police as well as parish council fees.

Elsewhere in Gloucestershire, Cheltenham Borough Council also approved a 3% tax increase.

It means residents living in a band D property will have to pay £230.78 to the borough council - an increase of £6.70 since last year.

Finance cabinet member Peter Jeffries presented the budget on Monday.

He said: "Interest rates have increased eight times since this same budget paper was presented last year.

"In February 2022 we paid about 15p for the unit of electricity and 3p for a unit of gas, it is now 40p and 10p respectively - and that's the price with the government's cap."

The council approved the budget by 26 votes in favour and seven abstentions.

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