Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is proposing to limit the rise in Council Tax bills to offset the financial challenges currently facing residents.
A survey by the County Councils Network found three-quarters of English councils with social care responsibilities are planning to increase bills by 5%, the maximum allowable.
When the Government allocated funding to councils in December, it worked on the assumption that all councils would increase bills by 5%.
But a report which will go before the Council’s Cabinet and Borough Council later this month proposes a 3.99% increase in Redcar and Cleveland – 1.99% for Council Tax and 2% for the Adult Social Care Precept.
The Council is also proposing £9.2m of savings to produce a balanced budget, which it is legally compelled to do.
The savings are necessary as an increase in Government funding has fallen well short of the rate of inflation which has been as high as more than 11% and currently stands at 10.1%.
This means everything the Council buys or commissions is significantly more expensive.
The Council is also experiencing a huge demand for its services, particularly in social care for vulnerable adults and children, and the cost of providing this has risen sharply. This is particularly acute in services which help and care for children and families and providing home to school transport.
The current increased costs from inflation and demand for services are expected to continue into next year.
Cllr Glyn Nightingale, Cabinet member for Resources said: “We are proposing not to raise Council Tax bills by the maximum amount expected by the Government. We have listened to our residents who are finding life particularly challenging, and we do not want to pass on the full cost of the challenge we face.
“However, we have a shortfall in our budget which means we must find savings or additional revenue to continue to deliver the front-line services that residents want and expect.
“We have been left in this position because the level of funding we will receive from the Government is well short of the increased costs caused by the high level of inflation.
“We also have a huge demand for our services, particularly caring for vulnerable children and the elderly, and we cannot turn these people away – we have a legal and moral duty to help people with nowhere else to go. Around 55% or our total budget is spent on providing this care and we expect the demand for our help to continue.
“To address this increased demand and the effects of inflation, we must make some unpalatable decisions about some of our other services; we do not wish to do this, but we must ensure we have sufficient funds to continue with our frontline services.”
The full budget report is available here