Current council budget
At a Budget Council meeting on Thursday 22 February 2018 councillors agreed to raise council tax for 2017/18 by 3.49% (1.99% basic, plus a 1.5% increase for the social care precept).
This means council tax charges for council services (excluding fire and police charges and parish precepts) for for properties in bands C and D for the forthcoming year are:
- Band D: £1,288.38
- Band C: £1,145.22 (the rate for the majority of properties in York)
The agreed budget has been informed by citywide consultation, and reflects our key priorities, which include supporting the most vulnerable people in the city and helping grow the economy.
All budget reports can be found with the minutes of the Executive Meeting held on Thursday 8 February 2018, including:
- Financial Strategy 2018/19 to 2022/23
- Capital Strategy 2018/19 to 2022/23
- Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators for 2018/19 to 2022/23
We have faced some tough decisions with the 2018/19 budget, to ensure that our priorities continue to be delivered, whilst also ensuring our financial position is managed effectively.
Even though we spend one of the lowest amounts per head of population amongst UK local authorities, we still provide the same services as other, higher-spending councils.
We're making decisions about:
- which services should be protected
- which services we can deliver differently
- which services we might need to cut
- whether charges for some services should be increased
Whilst legally councils can only set a budget for one year, the focus of our administration is to ensure a much longer-term plan is possible. As well as detailed plans for the year 2018/19, we have set out plans up to 2020/21. This gives a fuller picture of the choices faced and will enable a more joined up approach.