THE leader of Surrey County Council has denied his administration is raising taxes by stealth after it proposed putting up council tax by just under two per cent.
A rise of 2 per cent would trigger a referendum. And Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has lambasted any council which sets its rise fractionally below at 1.99 per cent – as Surrey intends to – as "democracy dodgers".
For the third year in a row, the Conservative Government is offering a grant to all councils which freeze council tax.
However, Tory Surrey – which was just one of two county councils nationally to turn down the grant and put up tax last year – says it cannot afford to accept the offer, which would be equivalent to a 1 per cent rise in council tax. Instead it plans to put its share of the charge up to £1,172.52 per year for a Band D home from April, an increase of £23.33.
"We do not think we are democracy dodgers," said council leader David Hodge.
"We think we are honest and straight and we put the facts to the local residents.
"We would not just do it without having reasons. The Government have to make a decision about VAT in the budget but that doesn't trigger a referendum. We are elected to run Surrey in the best interests of the local people."
He asked residents to make their feelings known at the ballot box in three months' time when all council seats are contested for the first time in four years.
"We have an election in May, and the public can make their choice then," he said.
"We are being honest and upfront with the electorate. It would be easy to hide, take the freeze and try to sort something out after (the election) but that is not the right thing to do."
The Lib Dems have accused the Tories of "hoarding £207 million" made up of tens of millions of reserves and balances and a £6 million under-spend, and said the council should use that cash to pay for services instead of asking residents to fork out more.
But Mr Hodge denied the council was squirrelling away cash unnecessarily.
"You can only use your reserves once," he said.
"They should be there for emergency issues."
He said the council wanted to invest extra cash in schools, roads, adult social care, and creating apprenticeships, and accepting the Government grant offer would leave a £10 million hole in the council's budget.
The proposals will go before the cabinet on Tuesday and full council on February 12.
The county council takes 75 per cent of the money collected from council tax.
The rest goes to borough and district, and parish or town councils in some areas, and Surrey Police. All bodies are set to agree their precepts within the next few weeks.
