Bromsgrove District Council voted to increase tax for residents at its meeting on Wednesday February 23.

Defending the plans, the council cabinet said that a “survival budget” was necessary due to unforeseen costs that had been incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposals from the ruling Conservative group represent an increase of £5 per year towards Bromsgrove District Council, a proposal that Councillor Geoff Denaro suggested was “good value”.

Two “alternative” budgets were proposed by councillors. Firstly, a budget proposed by Councillor Peter McDonald, which offered a one per cent reduction in council tax for residents. Cllr McDonald argued that tax should not be increased at a time that many households were struggling with high living costs and insecure job prospects.

A second alternative budget was proposed by Councillor Charles Hotham. Cllr Hotham said that he agreed “99.8 per cent” with the cabinet’s proposals. However, he pointed to the precarious nature of the council’s finances and suggested leaving some extra money in reserve.

Speaking to the Advertiser, Cllr Hotham said: “The idea of my budget was to continue with the community grants scheme which has been very successful

“As the council is predicting it will drop below its’ minimum reserve level of £1.5m at 1pm on 21st March 2025 the impact of my suggestion would be to push this out to around 5pm on 22nd March 2025. I don’t believe this will happen as before then central government will have to have sorted out local government funding.”

Labour’s alternative budget was defeated, with two councillors voting in favour of the proposals and 24 against. For Cllr Hotham’s alternative budget, nine voted in favour and 17 against. The cabinet’s budget passed, with 20 voting in favour and five voting against.