Dartford council approves council tax freeze amid Covid-19 pressures
A borough council tax freeze has been approved by Dartford council – but average bill payers will still face being hit in the pocket to the tune of at least £73.
Dartford council reaffirmed its pledge to residents in February to keep fees paid to the Conservative-run administration at the same level for the next financial year after councillors voted to pass its budget on Monday.
It means those in the average property – band D – will continue to pay £181 for the borough council portion of the tax bill.
Out of 14 local authorities in Kent, Dartford is the only council to have formally authorised a freeze on tax amid Covid.
The district and borough council precept makes up just over 10% of the total council tax fee that residents pay each year and goes towards a range of services such as weekly bin collections, parking and running leisure services.
However, residents will still see their average bill rise slightly after Kent County Council last month approved a 5% council tax hike – meaning the average household will pay at least £73 more.
KCC covers costs related to care and nursing homes, road repairs and school transport provision.
Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite (Con) told the general assembly: "This year the borough council proposes to be one of only a few councils in the UK to bring forward a council tax freeze.
"It is true that only around 10% of the total bill relates to Dartford Borough Council and other local authorities and agencies have an impact on them too.
"But this is no reason for us to blindly follow suit.
"This council has an extraordinary record of freezing council tax while others around us are raising theirs and we make no apologies for doing so."
Cllr Kite, whose Tory party holds 28 out of 42 seats, added: "On top of the council tax freeze we are making no reductions to core services and indeed we are expanding them in a number of key areas."
The Tory leader listed these as public spaces, environmental improvements and green initiatives.
It has lined up upgrades to playgrounds and outdoor spaces in Hesketh Park and both the Bridge and Fleet Estates, as well as reaffirming commitments to improve existing heritage assets such as the Acacia Hall redevelopment already underway.
Cllr Kite also confirmed the general community grant fund would be doubled to £90,000 in a move he says will "benefit the many and not just the few".
Additional resource of £32,000 has been added to the budget to increase parking enforcement in and around Swanscombe.
Budget contributions to the Orchard Theatre have also been changed in line with the contract seeing an increased cost of £24,000.
Also approved was a 1% increase to council salary levels, as well as to councillor and mayoral allowances for 2021/22.
The Dartford Labour Party group welcomed the 1% rise to salary levels but stopped short of endorsing the budget, which its councillors voted against.
Opposition group leader councillor Sacha Gosine (Lab) supported the council tax freeze but fears many will still be worse off as a result of the overall KCC bill hike.
He said: "The reality is that resident’s overall council tax is going to be raised, in real life terms by £84.03 on top of the £67 that it was raised by last year.
"It was the Tory administration at Kent County Council which also has members here tonight who sit on Kent County Council who voted for an increase in rates which in turn raised council tax overall."
He also claimed some residents eligible for universal credit would be squeezed as a result of revised payments moving them from band one to band two income.
Cllr Gosine added: "This means they are paying more council tax. That is an increase to them."
The Ebbsfleet ward councillor claimed the council were "picking the low bearing fruit" and penalising those residents hit hardest.
The Labour leader also used his opening remarks to take aim at flytipping which he said was still failing to be addressed and had got worse since the pandemic.
He said: "The residents we have spoken to say they are sick of this and want to know why there is still so little action on this.
"Those determined to litter and fly tip know they can do so at a much lesser risk than if they attempted to do this in the town centre.
"The 50% target of recycling is not specific to individual authorities, it is a national target and in England overall about 47% of the total waste collected is recycled. Unfortunately here in Dartford we are only able to achieve 25% of waste being recycled."
But Cllr Calvin McLean (Con), who was making his last budget appearance, claimed they had the "most effective environmental enforcement team in the county" who got "remarkable results" and deserved more recognition.
"Flytipping is a scourge," he said. "I live in a rural area and officers will know I kick up a stink about it.
"I think it is right as councillors we kick a stink up about it but there is nothing in this budget that is going to make flytipping any worse."
The Labour Party group had also claimed their Conservatives colleagues had performed a u-turn on planned changes to burial charges after publishing a petition over the weekend.
Council reports detailed proposed new charges that would see the "right of burial" hiked up £20 from £885 to £905.
"Last year the budget was set before the pandemic arrived in England," said Cllr Gosine.
"The council quite rightly halted parking charges because of the pandemic. This time the administration in charge was happy for burial charges to be increased whilst we are still in a pandemic.
"We had a meeting in December where this administration briefed me on their intentions with this budget. Burial charges were not part of the discussions which took place."
But Cllr Kite explained during Monday's meeting these were never intended to be brought forward and implemented as applied charges – although it remains unclear whether they will be reintroduced after the pandemic.
He claimed Labour colleagues were made aware of this before deciding to launch a petition calling for them to be withdrawn.
Cllr Kite added: "A little bit of research or a question, might actually stop worrying people out there in the community."
Councillors voted to approve the budget by 29 votes to 10.