Mid Sussex to increase council tax following £7.4 million budget gap forecast

"It's actually responsible for us to do that to ensure we can continue to provide the level of services that we would like."

Mid Sussex council are set to increase tax following a budget gap which will see them £7.4 million worse off between 2023 and 2027. 

The council are looking at charging an extra £5 per year as the gap rises from £169,000 next year to millions by 2027. This extra cost comes to the maximum amount the council may increase costs by without calling a referendum.

Head of corporate resources Stephen Fitzgerald said that the council will also "have to be rigorous in our search for savings and the delivery of those", although he admits "it is perhaps not as severe a position as some other local authorities will be facing."

The fiver will mean a Band D bill will increase to £185.31 per year from 2023. However, deputy leader John Belsey said the decision is "actually responsible for us to do that to ensure that we can continue to provide the level of services that we would like."

He added, "I don't think anyone ever wants to put up council taxes, particularly in this year of all years.

"However, pressures are such that I don't think we have any alternative."

Cabinet member Stephen Hillier acknowledges that it may be a difficult increase for some locals. 

"It's not going to be so for our more vulnerable residents because they're the ones least likely to get income increases linked to inflation. 

"But I think it's important that they and everybody recognise that a huge amount of work that we and officers do is actually to support those vulnerable residents."

Council members supported the increase alongside asking officers to carry out a review of the council's reserves and revenue balances to ensure they were "still relevant". 

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