Residents in Windsor and Maidenhead are being allowed to donate back their ‘council tax savings’ for the second consecutive year.
Following announcements that Windsor and Maidenhead RBC would cut its council tax bill by 2% for 2014/15, local people are being allowed to give the money they are saving to support a community service.
Despite only one resident choosing to make a donation last year, the town hall is once again allowing local people to provide cash for services including pothole repairs, facilities for young people and improved town centre parking.
This is the fifth consecutive year for a borough wide tax cut in the region, amounting to £352.73 savings for Band D households.
Services that can receive donations were those shown to be important to residents in the annual Local Budget public vote.
Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Simon Dudley, said: ‘Throughout the past few years of austerity residents have told us how much they appreciate a cut in their council tax, at the same time as enjoying quality council services.
‘However, a small number told us they would rather their savings were used for further enhancement of local services – so last year we devised a simple solution to help them do just that. Interestingly, only one resident made a donation – a further sign that council taxpayers in our borough really value the extra cash in their pockets.
‘We believe in giving residents a choice so we decided to keep the scheme going for another year and we wait with interest to see the response.’