Councillors have approved a 2.99 per cent tax increase that will start hiking bills from the end of next month.
At a meeting of the budget full council on Tuesday, a majority of Tameside members agreed to increase the amount people in the borough pay by at least £31 for the next financial year.
The bill increase will be split between 1.99pc for council tax and 1pc which is ring-fenced to be spent on adult social care.
This means that Band A properties, which make up the majority of homes in Tameside, will pay an extra £31.97 before Mayoral precepts are added on top.
The town hall is also to make £7.6m worth of cuts and savings in 2022/23.
Council leader Brenda Warrington told the meeting that the budget recognises that ‘realistic decisions’ need to be made.
“We can’t hide from the fact that the challenges we face over the next few years are indeed formidable,” she added.
“Tameside council along with local authorities across the country is still having to bear the consequences of almost 12 years of austerity which has seen our budget cut by £200m and counting.”
She said that the pandemic and cost of living crisis has seen income for the council drop, while increasing the demand for services, such as children’s and adult social care.
Coun Warrington told the meeting they cannot invest in resources in the same way, but now strive to provide better outcomes at low cost.
This will see transformation programmes put in place to try and improve the efficiency of services and reduce demand, which ‘undoubtedly’ require upfront investment.
Coun Warrington added there has been a spending reduction of £17m over the past two years, but they still face a budget shortfall of more than £3m which is what requires a 2.99pc increase in council tax.
“This is not a decision that we’ve made lightly,” she told councillors.
“And I know that a budget that contains both further cuts and tax rises is not going to be welcomed by many households who are already grappling with an unprecedented cost of living crisis.”
She added that the government funding settlement for local authorities assumes that every council will raise its council tax by the maximum permitted without a referendum.
“What this amounts to is the government using councils as a conduit for a continuation of austerity. It isn’t fair, it isn’t sustainable and it should be called out exactly for what it is,” Coun Warrington said.
“Ever increasing council tax rises, particularly the adult social care precept, have never been the solution to the financial pressures that we face.
“Not only is the money raised inadequate to the task at hand but the nature of council tax means that areas like Tameside, that can raise the least money from it, are also usually the areas where service demands are the highest.”
“Another way can and must be found.
“The alternative is a crisis in local authority funding, particularly in the areas of children's social care, and special educational needs and disability, which will be as catastrophic as it was avoidable.”
Opposition Tory councillors did not put forward an alternative budget at the council meeting.
However they said they would not be supporting the proposed council tax hike, and criticised spending in children’s services, the inability to retain social workers, and lending to other local authorities at low interest rates.
Group leader Coun Doreen Dickinson said: “You cannot expect the residents of Tameside to keep paying for your mismanagement.
“With the cost of energy and food bills rising rapidly we think this will affect the poorest of our residents so the £2m that the 2.99pc will bring in should be found elsewhere.”
Fellow Tory Coun Liam Billington added: “This council should not keep treating the taxpayers of Tameside as a personal piggy-bank, especially in times of hardship.”
The budget was approved, with Labour and Green councillor Lee Huntbach voting for, and Conservative councillors voting against.
