Cash-strapped Cheshire East has asked the Government for permission to increase council tax by 9.99% for the 2025-26 financial year.
Cheshire East Council, which is facing a £25.3m funding gap for 2025-26, said it must ‘explore every option to improve financial sustainability and address underfunding and growth in demand’.
A spokesperson for the council said: ‘Historical decisions not to raise council tax to the referendum limit over a number of years have had a cumulative impact on our spending power today.
‘Whilst previous decisions have delivered savings for residents, had council tax been increased to the referendum limit each year, the council would have had £35m more this year to spend on essential services, support more families and fix more potholes.’
Cheshire East stressed that its request to the Government did not mean it was committed to the tax increase, with a decision to be made by full council in February as part of the budget-setting process.
