By Maria Zaccaro, Local Democracy Reporter
Plans for a council tax hike and multi-million pounds investments to support vulnerable residents and repair roads in Southampton have been unveiled under 2021/22 city budget proposals.
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Council tax in the city could go up by 4.99% from April – with 3% of the increase set to be used to support adult social care services.
This means that the overall charge for Band D households could increase from £1,566.18 to £1,644.39 – a rise of £78.21.
The council is also planning to invest £8.3m to improve roads and resurface pavements.
A total of £11m is expected to be invested in adult social care to cope with increasing demand.
An extra £10m is instead set to be invested in children's services through a number of initiatives such as the recruitment and training of more social workers.
But some fees, such as those for renting rooms at libraries in the city, could go up.
The council said there are no plans for redundancies or cuts to major services.
Frontline services are also set to be protected, city leaders said, as they explained that savings will be made through the management of vacancies and temporary contracts expected to come to an end this year.
Cllr Stephen Barnes-Andrews, cabinet member for finance, said the council remains financially resilient.
The authority has to save £10.7m by 2022 as the total of costs and losses due to Covid-19 amounted to £36.8m.
Cllr Barnes-Andrew said reserves are being used to balance the books. The council is also looking to launch a lottery which will support charities as well as providing the authority with new income.
Cllr Barnes-Andrew also stressed that the council remains committed to delivering major schemes such as the revamp of the Sports Centre and improvements at Bitterne Precinct.
According to the budget proposals the council is also planning to invest £510,000 in the City of Culture initiatives and £410,000 in play areas across the city.
Council leader Cllr Christopher Hammond said the budget has been put together in the context of a decade of austerity.
He stressed that the authority had to save more than £160m over the past ten years.
But talking about councils being allowed to increase the adult social care precept of the council tax by 3%, he said: "This is a sticking plaster. The government promised us year after year after year a national plan on adult social care which has never come to fruition. So again they are asking our residents to pick up the tab because they haven't got a national plan ready."
The government has been approached for comment.
There's a further council meeting to discuss proposals on February 24.
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