Labour Cllrs force through above inflation Council Tax increase

At last night's Council meeting Chesterfield Labour Cllrs voted through an above inflation Council Tax increase and a Budget Plan that proposes doing the same each year through to 2025. Liberal Democrat Cllrs voted against this plan.

Paul Holmes, Leader of 17 Lib Dem Borough Cllrs, said "Chesterfield Borough Council is spending £1Million a year more than it has coming in. Instead of getting to grips with their overspending, Labour Cllrs keep relying on shuffling money around to fill gaps and on above inflation Tax increases and Car Park Increases. They recently increased short term car park charges by 14% (30 minute stays) and 12% (1 hour stays) and I voted against that in the Council Cabinet.

Their 'Action Plan' for dealing with their overspend is full of holes. For example they plan to raise money through profitable commercial ventures, such as:

- The Market Hall cafe which has in fact LOST money from the day it opened, and

- doing private sector building work since 2016. Which, they had to admit to a Scrutiny Committee on 5th Dec 2019, they DID NOT KNOW whether it was making a profit or losing money.

While their financial strategy is full of holes like this we cannot support them simply demanding above inflation tax and price increases."