Exeter City Council raise council tax by 2%

Exeter City Council has proposed raising its charges for city council services by nearly 2% costing some residents over £260 a year.

The council has said the decision to raise their council tax charges by 1.99% is subject to the Government’s decision on how much councils can raise their tax by.

The average tax charge is set to rise to over £132 a year on properties in the band D property but can rise as high as £260 a year for those on the H council tax band.

Council Leader Pete Edwards said the rise was as a result of the government cutting Exeter's funding by 13.6%.

"We are working harder than ever in the face of ever decreasing government funding to deliver key frontline services for the people of Exeter," stressed Cllr Edwards.

"We came into these challenging times in a strong financial position and over the last few years have had to be smart to become more fit for purpose in this ever changing world.

"We've reduced staff by 20%, established better, more efficient ways of operating and serving the public and we've made and will continue to make savings across the Council, like the installation of more energy efficient lights throughout civic centre buildings and solar panels on car parks."

"The next few years will be challenging and we can't shy away from the fact that there will be difficult decisions around the corner.

“When the current efficiency saving measures are in place we will be as small and as lean as a council can be and after that it is unlikely that we will be able to make any further savings without affecting frontline services. We must be realistic about this."

Cllr Edwards said that the Council was starting to look at how it could engage and involve people in the communities when it came to Exeter's future.