H & F says move will ease cost of living for residents
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has announced it is cutting council tax for the seventh year out of eigh in a move that it says will "ease the cost of living".
The council says this means the average Band D bill will be cut by 3% to £735 a year.
And it adds the last time council tax was lower in H&F was in 1999 when the average charge was £706.
The cut means that council tax bills in H&F will have fallen 20 per cent in cash terms over the past eight years, if the move is formally agreed at a Budget Council meeting in February.
The council says the tax reduction is possible as it has saved money by: sharing management posts with neighbouring boroughs; halving its historic £176million debt and by reforming the way front-line services are delivered.
Cllr Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council Leader, says: "While most major household bills have been going up and up, I believe this council has done more to reduce the cost of living than virtually any other organisation in the country.
" By relentlessly rooting out unnecessary costs and cutting debt, we have become a much leaner council where the focus is solely on the front line services that matter most to residents. While improving services, we have been able to ease the cost of living by passing cost savings back to taxpayers in the form of annual tax cuts."
You can read more about the council tax announcement on the council's website.
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