Anglesey 9.5% council tax hike 'no easy decision'

Image source, 91热爆/Jaggery/Geograph

Image caption, Services have been cut to the bone, says council leader Llinos Medi

Anglesey councillors have backed a 9.5% council tax hike, despite opposition claims the increase is too high.

It means the tax bill for a Band D property will go up by 拢108 to 拢1,248 plus police and community council charges.

Llinos Medi, leader of the ruling Plaid Cymru/Independent executive, said it "wasn't a sudden or easy decision".

"Services have been cut to the bone, good staff have been let go and budgets slashed," she said.

Under the original plan for a 6% rise in council tax, the education budget would have been cut by 拢1.7m.

With the bigger increase, schools will now be asked to cut 拢800,000, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Peter Rogers, a member of the Anglesey Independents opposition group, said the 9.5% increase was "ridiculous", claiming Anglesey was an asset-rich county which could have found more savings.

Funding from the Welsh Government - which covers just under three-quarters of the council's 拢135m budget - has been cut by 0.3% for 2019-20.

The Welsh Government claimed it had offered councils "the best settlement possible in this ninth year of austerity".