COUNCIL tax payers in Whitehill and Bordon are likely to see their bills rise this year, after Whitehill Town Council increased its share of the council tax bill.

It comes after the council’s previous Tory administration ignored the advice of officers and gave out more major grant aid than was budgeted for, increasing the spend from £54,000 to £61,000.

A meeting also heard that investments put in place by the previous council “have not performed as well as expected”, with all investments now under review.

At the full council meeting on Monday night, town councillors agreed to increase their share of the council tax bill by 6.41 per cent for the average Band D household.

This will see residents in Band D households paying £6.03 per year more, and £5.36 per year for Band C – the most common banding in Whitehill and Bordon.

Leader of the council, Councillor Andy Tree said: “Whilst in a perfect world we would not want to increase council tax, it is far better we do it in year one and give ourselves more flexibility in following years. It also means we show financial astuteness and credibility as a council.”

It was decided at the executive committee meeting on Wednesday (January 22) not to cut anything further as that “extra little bit” is the difference between a “strong council doing what we want or a weak council struggling to operate”, Cllr Tree added.

“The danger of under-budgeting is the council then has to use its reserves/savings to make up a shortfall which would create a terrible problem to deal with next year!”

It was also noted that the council’s reserves “aren’t in a good position”.

While the council chose not to cut its grant aid budget, it has agreed to set up a new ‘direct community benefit’ pot, with money moved from major and minor grant aid.

The rise follows a freeze by the previous town council last year, but a huge increase of more than ten per cent two years ago.