A DOUR warning to Waverley residents comes this week - council taxes are expected to soar in the new year.
With a council tax bill increase of at least 15 per cent on the cards from the county council, there will also be increased charges from Surrey police and Waverley.
The warning came last Friday from the outraged county council leader, Nick Skellett, after the government announced that Surrey is to receive one of the lowest grant increases in the country.
The meagre 3.7 per cent rise for Surrey represents the lowest-possible increase this year, with some councils enjoying the maximum 12.5 per cent.
An angry Mr Skellett said: "Overall, the whole cake is bigger but the South East's slice is smaller. Counties, especially those in the SE, will lose out as the central government grant moves north."
Speaking at a meeting of Waverley's executive committee this week, leader David Harmer made his feelings on the matter clear.
He told councillors: "This is unbelievable. Once again, the government is telling us to take extra responsibilities, but refusing to pay its fair share. Instead it is pushing public money to its friends."
He said the council would need an extra £407,000 in the next financial year to meet the cost of new government requirements, with the majority of this coming from the council tax payers' pockets through a seven per cent increase.
Extra national insurance to be paid by Waverley, investment to meet the government's recycling targets and the increased cost of meeting new legislation for homelessness are among the demands on the borough council.
"The government funding represents a contribution of just £40,000 to these costs," Mr Harmer said.
The committee's sombre mood was reflected by Waverley's director of finance Paul Wenham who said: "I think we will have some serious number crunching to do before the budget."
Councillors' fears that services in Surrey will be under pressure as a result of the low grant were shared by police.
Surrey police was also left out in the cold by the government, receiving an increase of just 0.9 per cent.
Chairman of Surrey Police Authority, Alan Peirce, said the only way to make up for the £13.7 million shortfall would be to increase the burden on council tax payers.
"Surrey Police Authority is faced with some very difficult decisions. We do not want to stand by and see a reduction in the levels of our police service across the county. We don't believe local people want to see this either," said Mr Peirce.
Waverley Borough Council is expected to announce its council tax charges when it publishes its budget in February. The borough's assistant director of finance, Graham Clark, told The Herald that he was unable to predict the exact council tax increase.
• People are getting good value for money from Hampshire and Surrey County Councils according to a study by the National Audit Commission.
The watchdog gave Hampshire top rating of "excellent" and Surrey the second-top rating "good". Most councils were ranked excellent or good with few judged fair, weak or poor. HCC and SCC were judged to be well placed to improve services, with Surrey getting the top score of four and Hampshire three.