Wiltshire residents face 4% Council Tax hike

Wiltshire Council Conservatives have announced their intention to increase the WC element of the Council Tax by 3.99%, the maximum allowed by the government. It follows several years without an increase as a government 'freeze grant' encouraged councils to keep tax levels down. This grant has now ended.

The administration has three priorities - protecting the vulnerable, boosting the economy, and making local communities pay more for services if they want to keep them.

Of the total budget of about £900million, £558m is expenditure specified by government which WC can't get its hands on. Of the remaining £342m the government contributes a grant of £103m, with the rest coming from council tax and charges for local services.

The Conservative Police and Crime Comissioner has also announced that the police element of the Council Tax will rise by about 2%.