Stoke-on-Trent City Council seeks £16.8m to avoid severe cuts. A 4.99% tax hike and £7.5m savings are also planned.
Balancing the budget needs government support, and the council asked for £16.8 million, which is like a loan; an announcement should come soon. Cabinet members voted to approve the budget, and it goes to the full council on March 4; this happened on Tuesday.
The cabinet gets an update on February 25 concerning the financial support request. They might change the budget then, depending on the request’s outcome.
The council report said what happens if they don’t get help: they’d need to consult about more service cuts. This would be really tough, the report said, and they would cut almost everything they don’t have to provide legally.
The council said the same thing last year when they wanted £42 million. The government approved that request.
Councillor Alastair Watson spoke at the meeting, stating that committee members gave useful feedback. He added that they will consider good ideas later, but none of the ideas changed the budget this time.
Budget savings include dimming streetlights sometimes as well as increasing leisure center charges.