COUNCIL tax will be frozen but some public sector jobs and services sacrificed as Harlow Council attempts to identify £1.7m of savings over the next financial year.
Details of the authority’s 2010/11 budget were revealed in documents published ahead of tonight’s (Thursday February 4) special policy and resources committee meeting.
The freeze on council tax will mean the council’s share of the bill for an average Band D household will remain at £251.55 for the second year running.
But elsewhere, grants to voluntary organisations will be slashed, annual estates clean-ups axed, funding for the town show withdrawn, rent subsidies for community groups reduced and cremation fees hiked, while 14 council workers face redundancy.
Council leader Andrew Johnson claimed his administration’s second budget "put residents first" while protecting frontline services.
"We are doing what we can to support residents during these difficult times and what better way than to propose a zero increase in our share of Council Tax," he said.
"We are working hard to provide better value for money and better services and this proposed budget shows how committed we are to that."
