The District Council's increase, agreed at a meeting of Full Council yesterday (2 March 2010), will amount to 6p extra per week.

Council Tax covers 49% of our services, with the remaining 51% paid for by the Government. This year, the council has only received an extra £35,000 towards the rising cost of our services. There are more than 100 of them in all - which include waste collection, planning and building control, leisure, sport and tourism, licensing, housing and housing benefits, and car parking. Taking all of this into account, we have limited our increase to 2.5%. Our spending on council services will increase by 1.9%.

Our share of the Council Tax, which amounts to around 9%, will rise by £3.25 a year from £129.99 to £133.24 for a Band D household. Of the remaining 91%, 79% goes to West Sussex County Council, about 9% goes to the Sussex Police Authority and roughly 3% goes to local parish councils. Each authority makes its own decisions about its council tax increases independently and Chichester collects the whole amount on behalf of them all.

Cllr Myles Cullen, Leader of Chichester District Council, said: "The financial downturn has impacted upon everyone. We have always kept our Council Tax increase as low as possible, and have had the lowest tax in the County. This year is no different. However, we have been determined to keep it even lower than in previous years because we realise the financial difficulties people are facing.

"We have also been able to keep Council Tax low due to the savings we have identified over the past year, amounting to £2.6 million. This has been a difficult process and we are expecting things to become even tougher over the next few years. But we want our residents to know that we are doing everything in our power to deliver quality services and keep costs low."

More details about Chichester District Council's budget, including copies of the full budget report, can be obtained by writing to The District Treasurer.