COUNCIL taxpayers in Tendring will still be asked to fork out an extra £5 a year, despite changes to the planned budget.

Tendring Council’s portion of the bill looks set to be increased to £162.64 for an average Band D property in 2018/9.

This is in addition to the levies which will be set by Essex County Council and the police and fire authority.

When the council’s cabinet met in December it heard its forecast budget, which aims to raise £7.6million from council tax payers, had a surplus of £42,000. But following revised information about the Government Financial Settlement and early results from ongoing officer pay negotiations, the council now forecasts a £144,000 deficit in next year’s budget.

A report that will go before the council’s cabinet today said the deficit will be plugged by using the council’s Forecast Risk Fund.

It added: “It is worth highlighting that the use of the Forecast Risk Fund in 2018/9 was significantly lower than originally forecast, which provides a strong position against which the remaining years of the ten-year forecast can be considered.”

As well as looking to residents to pay more in the face of Government cuts, Tendring Council is also looking at its finances over the next ten years, rather than looking just one or two years ahead.

Carlo Guglielmi, councillor responsible for finance, said: “We are now working on an innovative ten-year forecast approach which will give us more flexibility to balance out the loss of central government grant and help us achieve a sound and sustainable budget year on year.

“This can be achieved by maximising income whilst limiting reductions in services wherever it is possible to do so.”

As part of next year’s budget, the popular residents’ free parking scheme will continue, an extra £60,000 is to be spent on improved summer cleaning of town centres and seafronts, while £40,000 will be used to clean new beaches between Clacton and Holland-on-Sea.

The budget report will go before the council’s cabinet today before the final proposals are voted on by the full council on Tuesday, February 6.