Council tax will be frozen in Chippenham

11:35am Tuesday 6th January 2009

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Town councillors in Chippenham have shelved plans to increase their annual allowance and unanimously agreed to freeze council tax in a bid to tackle the credit crunch.

The council tax for 2009/10 is likely to remain the same as that charged in 2008/9 which works out at £143.08 for a Band D property.

A spokesman for Chippenham Town Council said: “This policy decision had been taken in response to the current problems in the wider economy and would be implemented without reducing the standard of services due to the level of reserves built up in recent years.

“After careful scrutiny of the annual budget, members decided to freeze the council tax demand, using a combination of good housekeeping and drawing a small amount from reserves.

“During difficult economic times, it was recognised that those on fixed incomes could struggle to pay any increase.”

Councillors also decided that, despite a recommendation from an independent panel, to leave their annual allowance at just £500.

The findings of an Independent Remuneration Panel recommended that the councillors could justify hiking their expenses allowance from £500 per year to £1,342, which would put them on more than the national minimum wage per hour spent on council business.

The cost of this increase would have also resulted in an additional £29,524 being put into the annual budget.

Members of the amenities committee will now take the final decision on council tax at a meeting on January 14.