West Oxon council sets council tax adding ‘1p a day’

The district’s council tax will continue to be the second lowest for shire councils in England.

West Oxfordshire District Council’s council tax for 2019-20 will rise by £5 - roughly a penny a day - which is within government guidelines, a spokesman said.

It means the council’s charge for the average Band D property in the district will be £99.38. Band D home owners will also pay £1468.83 for the county council and £206.28 for Thames Valley Police plus their own parish precept.

The move was approved along with the Council’s Budget for 2019-20 at a meeting last Wednesday.

Council leader Cllr James Mills said the authority was ‘leading the way’ in areas such as homelessness prevention with new emergency accommodation in Chipping Norton set to open.

Leisure services were also highlighted with improvements to Chipping Norton Leisure Centre.

Cllr Mills said: “WODC will ensure the provision of first class services with benefits such as free parking and we will continue to invest in the district.”

He flagged the success of local authority company Publica of which the Council is part-owner. Publica will deliver savings of £360,000 to the council next year, Cllr Mills said.

Partnership working, first started in 2008, is now delivering over £4.7 million of savings every year across the partnership and has delivered savings of over £20m since 2008. Councillor Mills said the council’s share of the savings from partnership working equated to a £55 saving for a Band D property.

“The increase will raise a total of £217,970 in council tax which, making a major contribution to helping the council balance its budget in future years,” he said.