UPDATED: Council tax bills are going to rise

A five per cent council tax increase has been approved, which means Isle of Wight council tax payers will see bills rise by an average of £90 per year.

It means a Band D taxpayer will now pay £1,908.39 in the 12 months from April, to fund services provided by the Isle of Wight Council.

The authority will start the 2024/25 financial year with a structural deficit of £1.2 million – for which it will use its savings.

An amendment by Conservative councillors and those who are members of the Empowering Islanders group won support  — with 30 votes in favour, eight against (Liberal Democrat councillors, and councillors Price, Love, Brodie and Quigley) and one abstention (chairman, Cllr Critchison).

All but two members of the Alliance Administration agreed to carry out the amended budget put forward by opposition councillors. Cllr Jonathan Bacon said after the meeting the administration “does not have to do something just because it is in the budget”.

Those plans include a number of feasibility studies, the potential to borrow millions of pounds to provide solar panels over car parks, affordable pre-fabricated homes and the creation of accommodation for looked-after children and young people with extra and extensive needs, so they do not have to be sent to the mainland. It also includes a comprehensive investigation into the Military Road and future options for maintaining it.

Council leader and head of the Alliance Group, Cllr Phil Jordan, insisted this is already being done. He called the Conservative and Empowering Islanders scheme ‘guesswork’ and said feasibility studies would be more expensive. He also warned that the amendment threatened a proposed investment of £500,000 into the Shanklin steps. Conservative Cllr Matt Price broke ranks with his fellow councillors, and voted against the budget led by his own group.

Also voted in are:

• Frozen parking charges for the first time in 13 years – apart from an increase to visitor parking permits
• An additional £11.3 million towards adults and children’s social care
• Increased fees for cremations and marriages
• £400,000 for highway drainage schemes to reduce flooding
• £30,000 to resurface the care park at County Hall
• £86,000 to provide Coroner’s Court facilities at Seaclose Park
• A restructure of the libraries and heritage services

The authority will also have to find £2.75 million in savings.

Amendments from Cllrs Richard Quigley and Geoff Brodie and the Liberal Democrats were dismissed, because they did not secure enough votes. Their plans had included delivering more affordable housing by asking the Council leader to sell £1 million in assets, as well as increasing the community capacity and resilience fund to £500,000, using the money to address poverty, mental health services; and to provide peer support for women moving on after trauma.

Meanwhile, tonight’s budget sees the level of council tax support for Islanders on the lowest income rise to a 75 per cent discount. A decision was also made to reinstate the exceptional hardship fund, which councillors voted to remove in January. The £50,000 fund provides extra support to the most vulnerable Islanders, by paying more of their council tax bill.

The budget has been set with an additional £3 million from government, to cover the costs that come with providing services on the Island. The authority estimates those costs now stand at £23 million.

Cllr Jordan warned it has not been confirmed if that uplift will be made available again.