TOWN Hall chiefs are proposing to raise council tax by 2.98 per cent.

Warrington Borough Council’s (WBC) 2019-20 budget, which will include the increase, will be voted on by full council on February 25.

Local authorities were allowed to add a six per cent adult social care precept to council tax bills, with a three per cent maximum in a year, over a three-year period.

But WBC has already used its permitted six per cent over the past two years.

Band D residents in the borough have had a £1,394.59 council tax bill in 2018-19.

However, the proposed 2.98 per cent increase – which excludes the additional parish council, police and fire precepts facing residents – will see that rise by £41.55 for Band D residents, which amounts to just under 80p a week.

Council leader Cllr Russ Bowden (LAB – Birchwood) says the financial position for the council remains very difficult.

He added: “There is no end in sight to Tory austerity cuts and we continue to face unprecedented demand pressures in adult and children’s social care.

“The upcoming budget will be the most challenging one faced by the council in recent years.

“We have made a great deal of progress in our transformational journey to make the council financially sustainable and to continue delivering the best services we can with the resources that we have.

“I am proud of the creativity and innovation that the council has shown through the enterprise programme.

“This is achieving around £30 million of income that is going into protecting vital services, many of which support the most vulnerable residents in our communities.”

But Andy Carter, deputy chairman of Warrington Conservatives, believes Labour’s time in charge at the Town Hall reflects an ‘inability’ to manage public money efficiently.

He said: “When it comes to tax and spending, there’s a real dividing line in politics today between Conservatives, who take a balanced approach and who are getting debt down, and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, who raise taxes and increase borrowing.

“Warrington council have borrowed and spent more than nearly every other council in England on commercial property deals, which exposes the authority and taxpayers to a massive risk.

“At the same time, they are increasing taxation and what is most difficult to understand is how this tax rise will help those hard-working people who Labour claim to be supporting.”

Cheshire’s police and crime commissioner David Keane is currently consulting on whether to increase the policing precept in council tax payments by £2 per month for the average Band D household to help ‘put more feet on the beat’.

The consultation ends on January 27.

Furthermore, Cheshire Fire Authority is proposing to increase its 2019-20 precept by 2.99 per cent, with a decision to be made on February 13.