Council tax will rise by five per cent and council tenant rents by seven per cent under new budget plans by Bristol City Council. But proposed cuts to parks, libraries and the council tax reduction scheme, which helps the poorest families, have been shelved following a backlash.
An updated budget, to be recommended by Labour mayor Marvin Rees’s cabinet on Tuesday, January 24, also includes new proposals to increase the cost of garden waste collections from £32 to £50 a year and charging second-home owners full council tax. The proposals will then be put before full council next month. The council tax hike, comprising the maximum allowed 2.99 per cent for general services and two per cent for adult social care, means a £94.87 increase for band D properties and excludes smaller precepts from the police and fire authorities.
Despite the extra income, the local authority still faces a £20.3million budget gap in 2023/24, going up to £40.2million in four years, although the cabinet papers say the worse-case scenario by 2027/28 is a £125million blackhole. The council has proposed savings totalling £16.2million in the 12 months from April and £30.2million overall.
