Lincolnshire: Council tax rise for county and city residents

Owners of a Band D property in Lincoln will pay an extra £5.40 a year

The proportion of council tax going to the City of Lincoln council is set to rise by 1.89%.

The city council voted unanimously in favour of the increase which would see a Band D property pay an extra £5.40 a year.

The authority collects the tax but only retains 14.6%, with the rest passed on to the county council and the police.

Lincolnshire County Council will see an increase of 4.99% and Lincolnshire Police will get a rise of 3.75%.

This means that a Band D property in the city will see an overall rise of 4.35% to £1,999.26 a year.

City of Lincoln Council has set a budget of £114m for next year and said it had already made savings of more than £10m, with an additional £750,000 annual reduction to be delivered by 2024/25.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Labour council leader Ric Metcalfe told members there was "lots and lots of uncertainty" over the next five years.

"We are still living with the legacy of the damage inflicted by COVID-19 on the finances of the council," he said.

"And, now, we are faced with significant rising costs and inflationary pressures right across the board."

He noted issues with labour supply, a lack of clarity over funding and international situations such as that in Ukraine.

"So there is some uncertainty in almost every direction that we look," said Mr Metcalfe.

A series of amendments to the budget was put forward by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat opposition.

They included increased enforcement fines, a freeze on parking charges, one hour free parking at Lincoln Central Car Park, new PCSOs, more public seating and the reopening of West Gate Toilets.

However, they were voted down, with Labour criticising a lack of time to scrutinise them and funding to pay for them.