Barrow Borough Council agrees budget for 2022/23

BARROW Borough Council has approved an increase of £5 for the year ahead for a Band D property in its budget for 2022/2023 - the equivalent of 10 pence per week. This means the authority’s share…

BARROW Borough Council has approved an increase of £5 for the year ahead for a Band D property in its budget for 2022/2023 - the equivalent of 10 pence per week.

This means the authority’s share of Band D council tax will increase by 2.04% to £250.41 for the year from April 1.

A total of 59% of properties in the borough are in Band A - for which council tax will increase by just £3.33 for the year, or six pence per week. This means the annual cost will go from £163.61 to £166.94 per year.

The changes were agreed at a meeting of Barrow Borough Council’s full council today (Thursday, February 24).

The leader of Barrow Borough Council, Councillor Ann Thomson, said: “The council has worked very hard to keep these increases to a minimum so that it has as little impact as possible on our residents.

“The council collects tax on behalf of itself, Cumbria County Council, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service and the Police and Crime Commissioner. However, Barrow Borough Council keeps just a very small portion of this to pay for the services it provides.

“We understand that the last year has been especially difficult for many people following the pandemic and the impact that has had and continues to have on our economy.

“That is why we wanted to make sure that the increase, which couldn’t be avoided entirely in order to protect services, should be kept to the absolute minimum required.”

Barrow Borough Council provides a range of services for residents and businesses across the borough, including housing, a kerbside refuse and recycling service, planning, public protection, licensing and streetcare.

More information on council tax can be found here: Barrow BC - How to pay your Council Tax