FINANCE bosses are set to ask council taxpayers in Tendring to fork out an extra £5 a year.

Tendring Council is again looking to residents to pay more as part of their council tax bills following central Government cuts to funding.

The district council’s portion of the bill could be increased to £167.64 in 2019/20 for an average property.

The figure, which comes despite a £5 hike in Tendring Council’s portion of the bill this year, will be in addition to the levies that will be set by county council and police and fire commissioner.

Carlo Guglielmi, cabinet member for finance, said the council is in the third year of a ten-year financial plan set up to deal with the Government cuts to council grants.

He said: “We set out three years ago our plan to set us on a path away from relying on government funding and standing on our own two feet, and I am pleased that we remain on track.

“While there are a few items of spending that we still need to find a place for in the budget, I am very confident that we will have done so by January.

“Putting together a budget for a council is no mean feat as income from central government ends and as inflation continues to put pressure on existing costs, but together as an authority everyone has worked hard to deliver savings to manage this while continuing to give a first-class service to our residents and businesses.”

He added that spending plans already funded include £500,000 for new homes in Jaywick, £1.75million on garden communities and the Local Plan and £2.3million on business investment.

Mr Guglielmi said work in underway to find funding for the Tendring Mental Health Hub and Clacton Airshow’s night flights before the final budget proposals are made.

Ivan Henderson, leader of the council’s Labour group, said: “The Government has cut back local government funding and councils are now at a serious breaking point.

“Now they are expecting local people to step in to pay even more for services they should be funding.

“The chancellor Philip Hammond said austerity is over, but it is not over for local Government.”

The first draft of the budget will be reviewed by the council’s cabinet on Friday.