Barking and Dagenham residents face a 4.99 per cent council tax increase to their bills from April 2024.
The plans are part of a council report that cabinet members have been recommended to approve at a meeting next week (Tuesday, 23 January).
According to the report, the council estimates the increase will generate an extra £6.3million in council tax income.
The report noted: “…with the council’s proposal of increasing council tax by 4.99pc as allowed under the statute, the total increase with council tax base and rate increase will generate an additional £6.3m council tax income.”
An estimated £1.40 per week will be added onto the average Band D property council tax bill, according to the council’s public consultation page.
The council wrote on its consultation page: “Without further backing from the government, we are left with no choice but to raise Council Tax to help ease the pressures on our budget.
“The fact remains that everything costs more than it did a year ago, demand for our services has increased, but the money available to us hasn’t.”
The 4.99 per cent increase will go towards general spending at the council and adult social care, which is in line with the maximum amount set by the government.
It was reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) in December 2023 that the council was bracing for a £23m budget gap for 2024/25, which it said was down to high inflation, increased interest rates and higher demand services.
More recently, government data analysed by the BBC earlier this week found Barking and Dagenham Council was one of the top 10 local authorities for having the largest amount of average debt per resident at £4,735.
On Tuesday evening (16 January), leader of the council Darren Rodwell hosted a livestream with Dominic Twomey, deputy council leader and cabinet member for finance, growth and core services, where they discussed the budget plans for 2024/25.
Cllr Twomey said: “We try the very best we can with the resources we’ve got if we didn’t take the general council tax increase of 2.99pc… that would mean that we would have to make somewhere in the region of £2.5m more cuts on top of the gap that we’re already facing of around £20m.
“Whichever way we go with this, there’s nowhere really to turn.”
Residents can respond to the council’s 2024/25 budget consultation here.
