Tax bills to go up £28 for Coventry households

COUNCIL Tax bills look set to rise by around £28 for Coventry households.

Fire chiefs are the latest to propose an increase in their share of annual bills.

They have outlined plans this week to ask for an extra £5 a year - with the promise of keeping stations open and recruiting more firefighters.

The city council and police have already announced they intend to increase their share by £20 and £3 respectively for band D properties.

Coun John Edwards, chair of West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority, said people would still be making the lowest contribution anywhere in the country.

"This small increase is needed because we are losing over £20 million of central government grant during the current four-year period," he said.

“The small increase we are proposing will ensure we keep our front line as strong as possible, keep all our fire stations open, and maintain our first class five-minute target response time to life-threatening incidents."

Tory councillors in Coventry are urging the Labour-run council not to increase their share by two per cent.

The group's deputy leader John Blundell said the city had no excuse not to follow in the footsteps of Birmingham and Warwickshire councils, which have both frozen bills again this year.

"We will be putting forward an alternative budget with no increase for 2013/14 and hope they will do the same."

Councillors will discuss the plans on on February 26.

Share This

Regional news »