Rother freezes its council tax portion

Members of Rother District Council have decided to keep its portion of the annual bill the same at £161.19 a year for a band D home – or just over £3 a week for the average household.

This pays for more than 50 services including waste and recycling, public toilets, parks and gardens, organising elections, planning and sports facilities.

Despite being the billing authority, Rother’s portion of the council tax makes up only 11 per cent of the overall bill, with the remainder being charged by East Sussex County Council, the police, parishes and fire service.

Rother is warning residents they can expect changes in the way services are to be delivered after a £1.7million cut in their government funding grant.

But the council recognises the difficult financial climate and, by also using a grant offer from central government to help cover the cost of the freeze, agreed not to increase this year’s bill.

Rother District Council leader Cllr Carl Maynard said: “As a council we have to strike a difficult balancing act between maintaining services and being mindful of the financial burden placed on our residents.

“We do understand that we are in a difficult financial climate and believe this is the right thing to do for our residents.

“Once again, we have the lowest council tax of any authority in the county, proving that Rother offers exceptional value for money and that our residents receive a great many services for far less than other councils would charge.”