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Crawley Borough Council’s element of council tax is proposed to increase by 2.49 per cent.

A council spokesman said: “Crawley Borough Council’s Cabinet has proposed a balanced budget for 2019/20, protecting frontline services, continuing to invest in the town and improving the council’s efficiency.”

The budget was debated by the Cabinet on Wednesday (February 6).

Members unanimously recommended approval of the budget to Full Council on February 20 .

Crawley will face a 89.7 per cent cut in revenue support from the Government over the next year.

The reduction in funding since 2016/17 is £1.72m, said the council.

The spokesman said: “Despite this, the council has identified additional income, efficiencies and savings of £1.26m, meaning that the council’s element of council tax is set to rise by just 2.49 per cent, the equivalent of only 9p per week for a band D property.”

West Sussex County Council is proposing a rise of £65.79 on a band D property (4.99 per cent), which will be debated at its Full Council meeting on February 15.

The precept for the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner will rise by £24 on a band D property (14.47 per cent).

If the proposed rises are approved, for every pound paid in council tax, West Sussex County Council will receive 77.8p, Sussex Police, 10.7p, and Crawley Borough Council, 11.5p.

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Councillor Peter Lamb, leader of Crawley Borough Council, said: “Local services used to be paid from income tax, meaning those who earned more paid more.

“Due to government cuts to council and police funding, funding for these services increasingly comes from council tax which tends to hit pensioners and poorer residents hardest.

“While Crawley Borough Council is responsible for collecting all your council tax, more than 88 per cent of it goes to West Sussex County Council or Sussex Police.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure that Crawley Borough Council’s part of the bill is kept roughly in line with inflation, meaning that the ‘real terms’ increase this year comes exclusively from West Sussex and the police.”

The Cabinet has also recommended:

* £6m to purchase investment properties. The rental income generated from these will be used to help fund council services

* More than £9m over three years for repairs to council homes

* The purchase of a housing development in Broadfield

* A new integrated housing database to replace the council’s outdated systems

* The ICT transformation programme.

How much is your council tax set to rise in Crawley?