ALTON householders will be paying one of the highest council tax bills next year of all the 39 towns and villages in East Hampshire. An average band D tax payer in the town will have a £1,213.24 bill landing on the door mat in the next month. It will mean a tax rise of around £44 for the band D tax payer with the biggest percentage increase coming from the council closest to home. Alton Town Council's share of the bill will be around £53.41, representing an increase of £5.22, or just over £1 per householder per week/ That equates to an increase of 12.4 per cent - or 9.4 per cent in real terms when taking into account a 3.25 per cent growth in housing. Hampshire County Council has set its smallest council tax rise since l974 increasing its share of the total county tax bill by just 3.5 per cent bringing the total for an average tax payer up to £869.40 next year compared with £840.15 this year. This has been achieved by efficiency savings, extra money from Westminster and using £6 million from council reserves. East Hampshire District Council rubber stamped its promised 2.5 per cent inflation based tax increase at a full meeting of the council on Wednesday last week. It means the average bill for EHDC's tax slice will be £124.56 just £3.04 up from this year. In addition Alton householders face a £113.76 bill from the Hampshire police authority and another £52.11 from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority. In a dozen of the 39 towns and villagers in East Hampshire average band D council tax payers will see their bills hitting the £1,200 mark for the first time. Petersfield householders will be paying the most with an averaged band D household weighing in at a hefty £1,227.90, closely followed by Alton at £1,213.24, Greatham at £1,212.01 and Whitehill at £1,207.16. The villages of Beech, Bentley and Froyle will all see bills topping £1,200. The lowest East Hampshire Council tax payers next year will be villagers in Colemore and Priors Dean and West Tisted where the average bill will be £1,159.83.
