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and non-teaching wages would increase by 2 per cent. But he said it was ‘a judgement call’.
The original recommendation of a 3.99 per cent increase would have led to £3.4 million savings with a 10 per cent increase in car parking charges; a £149,000 in county road maintenance; a £40,000 reduction in maintenance of outdoor bowling greens and cricket pitches; a £42,000 cut in the street cleaning budget; £28,000 to maintain and repair leisure centres; a review of mobile Welsh teaching and a reduction in posts saving £40,000; £10,000 less to spend on books within the Schools Library Service; and the mothballing of more council properties as it rationalises its property portfolio to save £75,000.
Councillor David Jones put forward the 2.99 per cent amendment, saying they proposed to save £800,000.
He said out of those savings they wanted to reinstate £40,000 to maintain bowling greens and cricket pitches in the mid and south of the county, protect the repair and maintenance of leisure centres by retaining £28,000, and reinstate £57,000 for street and toilet cleaning. They also want to retain £165,000 for highway maintenance.
Taxpayers will still face a 10 per cent increase in car parking charges, and numerous other cuts.
Councillor Jones said the remaining £500,000 would be used to reduce the council tax increase to 2.99 per cent. “This year, with the problems in the economy, we have to try and shelter our residents from the credit crunch that is now facing them. We have got to be prepared to recognise the challenges that they have got in this particular year,” he said.
The Liberal Democrats had previously put forward a proposal to peg the council tax increase at 2.75 per cent by speeding up job cuts through retirements and vacancies, by taking £200,000 out of money set aside for Information Communication Technology, and by assuming inflation will be 2.5 per cent rather than 2.7 per cent.
Group leader Councillor Les Davies claimed their package would save £3.25 million which they wanted to spend on street and toilet cleaning, maintenance of bowling greens and cricket clubs, maintenance and repairs to leisure centres, a one-off £60,000 boost for the Wyeside Arts Centre and a pot of money to help.
Councillor Gareth Radcliffe of the Conservative Group said they could not support any council tax increase above 2 per cent and they were working on proposals to achieve that until “the eleventh hour”.
Councillor Russell George, Welsh Conservative Board Member, said: “At the Full Council Budget Seminar of November 21 we the Welsh Conservatives said that we could only support an increase in council tax of around 2% and, with the economy in even more trouble now than it was in November, there is no change to our point of view.”
“We need to put the residents of Powys first and foremost. They are experiencing exceptionally difficult economic conditions and cannot afford a big increase in council tax. The best way to avoid repossessions is to set a low council tax.”
