SURREY County Council plans to increase council tax by 1.99 per cent - thereby avoiding a public referendum.
The increase - which equates to 45p per week - is just below the 2 per cent threshold which would force the council to seek public opinion.
The council claims the money is needed to deal with rising costs in the county with a predicted £25million extra needed to help support the increasing number of vulnerable adults over the next 3 years, £327million needed to cope with the growing demand for school places until 2019 and £10million potentially needed to fix road damage by recent floods.
Since 2010, the council has seen a £69million cut in government grants and has pushed council tax up by £56million.
In a statement released today, council leader David Hodge claimed the 1.99 per cent rise is less than the 2.5 per cent the authority needs.
Leader David Hodge said: "We're proposing a 1.99% increase even though we've said we need 2.5% because any more means wasting up to £2 million on a referendum and while it puts more pressure on services we'll still be able to provide what residents expect with this increase."
Despite making savings of £200m since 2010, all these have been wiped out by a dwindling government grant and increasing demand for services.
The council has identified a further £200m of savings over the next four years but these pressures will remain.
The cabinet will make a decision on the proposal at the meeting on February 4.
