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10
Jan 2023
Police commissioner given power to hike council tax by £15
North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has been given the power to increase the police's share of council tax by £15 this year.
Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative commissioner, is currently consulting on her budget plans for police and fire services for 2023.
The government has given commissioners the power to increase the force's share of council tax by £15 before a referendum has to be held.
It has also set a £5 limit on the fire service precept.
A £15 hike in the police precept would be the equivalent of a 5.34% increase and see the force's share of council tax rise to £296 for a band D property.
Ms Metcalfe has previously warned North Yorkshire Police needs £12 million in extra funding to tackle rising costs, including salary increases and rising cost of fuel and utilities.
She said previously:
Read more:
- Crime commissioner Zoë Metcalfe resigns from Harrogate Borough Council
- North Yorkshire Police needs £12m to meet rising costs, says commissioner
- Impartiality concerns over crime commissioner’s plan to share office with Harrogate police
A £15 increase would see an additional £4.7 million in funding compared with last year’s precept level.
The commissioner’s office says the force has a budget of £191 million — 45% of which comes from council tax payers.
Meanwhile, a £5 increase for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue would equate to a 6.6% increase in its precept.
It would raise £1.5 million and “would lead to no reductions in planned levels of service delivery”, according to a report by the commissioner’s office.
Ms Metcalfe is expected to outline her budget plans for fire and police services in February 2023.
The consultation into police and fire precepts closes on January 16, 2023. You can take part in the survey here.
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