A 'cost of living' rebate that would benefit thousands of homes in Stockport has been proposed ahead of a key budget meeting this week.
The Liberal Democrats - the largest group on the council - have put forward plans for a £15 ‘payment to all households in council tax bands A-D.
Funded through reserves, it is broadly equivalent to the proposed increase in the ‘general’ element of council tax and would benefit more than 100,000 homes - or 82pc of those in the borough.
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It comes after the Labour administration put forward proposals for a 1pc hike in the general element of council tax, and a 2.5pc increase in the adult social care precept (1.5pc of which is deffered from last year).
That makes for a 3.5pc rise, which increases to 4pc once Andy Burnham's mayoral and policing precepts are taken into accoutn.
It would mean average 'Band D' properties facing a hike of £83.25 over the 2022/23 finacial year. Bills would begin to go up from April.
The Labour group which runs the council admits it has been a ‘very hard decision’ - but say they have recognised the ‘impact on residents’ by stopping short of raising the general levy by the maximum 2pc
However, the Lib Dems want more to be done given the 'unprecedented increases in household bills' residents are facing, and the scale of council reserves.
Coun Lisa Smart, Lib Dem shadow for budget matters, said: “In the wake of the impacts of covid and Brexit, our residents are facing huge increases in their household bills for the year ahead.
“Added to recent government announcements about higher National Insurance rates and lower than expected state pension increases, we felt we had to do all that we could to soften the blow for our residents.”
Coun Smart accepts the council has to take the adult social care precept to replace lost government funding - and that the authority has no control over Andy Burnham’s mayoral and policing precepts.
But she added: “We do have control over the ‘general’ part of the council tax and, given the size of the council’s reserves, we believe a rebate is affordable.
“As this is the mechanism the government have already chosen to make an energy rebate, the administrative costs of paying back a little more are negligible.”
Lib Dem leader Coun Mark Hunter echoed Labour concerns that the current one-year financial settlement from the government means ‘further uncertainty’ for the council.
“However, given the unprecedented financial challenge our residents face, including inflation at a 30 year high, we believe that this money should go back to them rather than sit in council reserves for the year ahead,” he added.
Budget amendments are not usually circulated until the night of the meeting, but the Lib Dem group has taken a different tack this year.
Coun Hunter said: “We have decided to share our proposal with the other groups well ahead of the budget council meeting so that they can properly consider it and I hope they will agree to support some of our least well-off residents in this way.”
The amendment has been risk assessed by the deputy chief exec and finance officer, who found the budget remained 'robust'.
Stockport council's annual budget setting meeting takes place at the town hall on Thursday night (February 23).
