COUNCIL tax is going up by almost five per cent in North Yorkshire, and councillors in York will today decide whether to confirm a 3.49 per cent tax hike in the city.

On Wednesday, county councillors in Northallerton confirmed their council tax and spending plans for the year ahead - including what they say is an increase of just under £5 per home for an average household.

North Yorkshire council leader Cllr Carl Les said that even with higher taxes, the authority still faced a budget blackhole."We reluctantly have recommended increasing council tax by 4.99 per cent. At the same time, we have identified further savings of £30 million over the next four years, which leaves a recurring shortfall of £11 million to be found.

“Therefore, we will need to find further savings as we seek to address reductions in government funding and growing demand for our services to the most vulnerable groups in society.”

He said that an extra £3.2 million of government funding was welcome, but the one-off payment would not help with the ongoing cuts needed. He hit out at disparities in the system which he says leave rural areas like North Yorkshire needing to raise more taxes locally than other areas.

Cllr Les added: “We will continue, along with our North Yorkshire MPs, to press the case for a fairer deal for rural councils and I will be setting out the council’s position in our response to the government’s Fairer Funding consultation.”

The council leader also warned that North Yorkshire could not find all the savings it needed from back office and administration costs, and would be forced to look at “service changes and cuts”.

Cllr Les added: “We face additional pressures, with wage rises and inflation, and while we have always looked to keep council tax low, we believe it’s right to take advantage of the flexibility offered to us and protect services for our most vulnerable residents.”

Deputy leader Cllr Gareth Dadd added: “By the end of March we will have delivered £142m of recurring savings, but the financial challenges will last well into the next decade. That is why we have to continue to plan for the medium to long term and not focus just on the next year.

“This approach has served us well and puts us in a stronger position than many other councils, some of which are now facing the real prospect of failing to deliver a balanced budget for next year.”

In York, city councillors are due to meet tonight to confirm a lower council tax increase of 3.49 per cent, as well as around £5 million in cuts needed to balance the books.