Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue could increase its council tax by £5 as the service says it would face a deficit of nearly £6million without charging more. Local authorities across Nottinghamshire are currently planning their council tax charges for the next financial year, which starts in April.
Nottingham City Council has already proposed a rise of 5%, while Nottinghamshire County Council is planning to charge an extra 4.84%. It comes after the Government recently raised the cap so that local authorities can now increase council tax by up to 5% without holding a referendum.
A £5 increase in Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue's council tax, equating to an £89 bill for a Band D property, has now been described as a a move which would make the service's finances 'far more manageable' over the coming years. A report on the matter has been written by Chief Fire Officer Craig Parkin and will be presented at a meeting next week.
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The meeting of the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority's finance and resources committee on January 20 will be asked to make recommendations for next year's council tax. In the report to be presented at the meeting, Mr Parkin lays out some of the increased costs being faced by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue.
He said: "The service procures both gas and electric from a not-for-profit public sector framework which purchases energy in bulk, and usually outperforms market averages on our behalf. Gas costs are expected to increase by 70% in 2023/24 and electricity by 48%.
"Work is ongoing to improve the efficiency of buildings and minimise usage of energy. Fuel inflation was 21% in November 2022. The service's fuel budget for 2022/23 was £470,000 per year but expenditure is set to be nearer £700,000."
The options set out in the report are for council tax to be frozen, for it to be increased by 2.95% or for it to go up by the new maximum of £5. Without any increase in council tax, the fire service said it would be left with a deficit that would reach £5.6m by April 2026.
If a 2.95% increase was chosen, the deficit would be £2m by April 2026. But if the fire service increases its council tax by £5, the report said the deficit would be £529,000 for the next financial year, rising to £1million by April 2026.
Mr Parkin added: "A £5 increase would still require £529,000 to be met from a mixture of savings or reserves but this would be far more manageable and would also leave a level of reserves available to assist with future year budget management. For a Band D household, a £5 increase would see council tax rise to £89.57 per annum."
Councillors at the January 20 meeting will consider all three options before making their recommendations, with final proposals being considered in February. Overall council tax bills, used to fund both the county and district council, Nottinghamshire's Police and Crime Commissioner and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue, are collected by the district council in a given area.
As part of money-saving efforts, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue recently proposed several re-structuring changes during a consultation which closed on December 23. Options included returning Ashfield fire station to a full-time operation, but removing the night-time shift from West Bridgford and removing a fire engine from the London Road and Stockhill stations.
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