York council tax to rise nearly 5% as budget approved

York council tax is going to rise by 5%

Council tax bills in York are to rise by nearly 5% after councillors approved budget proposals.

Spending cuts of nearly £8m were also signed off at Thursday's full council meeting.

The local authority's deputy leader Andy D'Agorne said: "This is the best budget we can set in these very challenging times."

However, opposition councillors said residents would be "paying more for fewer services".

Council rents will rise by 7%, while parking charges and fees for services including waste disposal parking go up by as much as 10% under plans drawn up by the authority's Liberal Democrat-Green coalition leadership.

The council tax rise of 4.99% includes a 2% social care precept.

The budget will see money invested in adult and children's social care, with targeted support also available for those struggling with soaring living costs.

But the council is to make cuts to support for vulnerable adults and children, departments which account for more than half authority's spending, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Keith Aspden, the council's leader, said the budget ensured it could continue to provide key services despite financial pressures fuelled by the Covid pandemic, the Ukraine war and the cost of living crisis.

He said the local authority was "protecting the most vulnerable in our city, investing in our communities, delivering affordable homes, fixing the city's roads and investing in York's future".

Mark Warters, an independent councillors, said residents were "being asked to pay more to get less services again".

The Labour group on the council abstained on the vote after their budget amendment was rejected.

It had called for £100,000 in seed funding kick start plans to provide free school meals for all York schoolchildren and £30,000 to look at how to reverse the city's controversial blue badge ban.

Claire Douglas, leader of the Labour group, said the proposals were "based on the needs of the whole city rather than just those of specific wards".

The council's two Conservative councillors did not submit a budget amendment but group leader Paul Doughty criticised the council tax rise as "a relentless raid on the pockets of the citizens of York".