The Director of Finance submitted an extract from Council Document “U”              in the light of the Labour Group’s amended budget recommendations to Council and it was therefore:

Resolved –

That it be recommended to Council that:

(1)       REVENUE ESTIMATES 2019/20

              (a)     That the Base Revenue Forecast of £384.022m for 2019/20 as set out in the extract from Council Document “U” (Revenue Estimates) be approved.

(b)      That the extract from Council Document “U” and the consequent net reduction in investments of £0.947m in 2019/20 be approved.

(c)       That the extract from Council Document “U” and the service savings and additional income of £23.164m in 2019/20 be approved.

(d)      That it be noted that within the revenue budget there is a net use          of  £1.460m in revenue reserves in 2019/20.

(e)       That the extract from Council Document “U” and the service savings proposals for 2020/21 be approved, requiring the Chief Executive, Strategic Directors and Directors to take necessary action during 2019/20 to ensure those savings are fully achievable for 2020/21.

(f)         That the comments of Director of Finance set out in Council Document “V” on the robustness of the estimates and the adequacy of reserves taking account of the recommendations made at 1(a) to (e) above be noted.

(2)     PROPOSED COUNCIL TAX 2019/20

          That it be noted that the projected council tax base and expenditure       forecasts outlined in this report together with the 2019/20 resources        and the budget variations approved at 1(b) and 1(c) above produce a        proposed Band D council tax of £1,373.07 for 2019/20.

(3)    PAYMENT DATES FOR COUNCIL TAX AND NATIONAL NON-DOMESTIC RATES

          That the first instalment date for payment of National Non-Domestic Rates and Council Tax shall be specified by the s151 Officer.

(4)     DELEGATION TO OFFICERS

          That for the avoidance of doubt and without prejudice to any of the powers contained in Article 14 of Part 2 of the Council's Constitution on the Function of Officers, the s151 Officer shall have full delegated powers to act on behalf of the Council on all matters relating to the Council Tax, Non-Domestic Rates and Accounts Receivable Debtors including (without prejudice to the generality of the delegation) entry into the 75% business rate pilot, assessments, determinations, recovery, enforcement and, in accordance with the statutory scheme, full delegated powers to act on behalf of the Council with regard to all aspects of the granting of Discretionary and Hardship Rate Relief to qualifying ratepayers.

(5)       PREPARATION OF ACCOUNTS

           (a)         That in preparing the Final Accounts for 2018/19, the s151 Officer be empowered to take appropriate steps to secure the best advantage for the Council's financial position.

           (b)         That the s151 Officer be empowered to deal with items which involve the transfer of net spending between the financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20 in a manner which secures the best advantage for the Council's financial position.

           (c)         That the s151 Officer report any action taken in pursuance of 5(a) and 5 (b) above when reporting on the Final Accounts for 2018/19.

(6)         COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENT 2019/20

           (a)    That the council tax base figures for 2019/20 calculated by the Council at its meeting on 8 January 2019 in respect of the whole of the Council’s area and individual parish and town council areas be noted.

(b)     That the only special items for 2019/20 under Section 35 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 are local parish and town council precepts and no expenses are to be treated as special expenses under Section 35(1) (b) of that Act.

(c)     That the Council Tax Requirement, excluding parish and town council precepts, be calculated as follows:

(d)  That the precepts of parish and town councils be noted and the resulting basic council tax amounts for particular areas of the Council be calculated as follows:

          (e)     That the council tax amounts for dwellings in different valuation bands in respect of the Council’s budget requirement, taking into account parish and town council precepts applicable to only part of the Council’s area, be calculated as follows,

             (f)   That it be noted that for the year 2019/20 the Police and Crime Commissioner and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (WYFRA) have indicated the following precepts, to be confirmed.

            (g)  That having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at (e) and (f) above, the Council set the following amounts of council tax for 2019/20 in each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

(h)       That Council notes the movement in Band D equivalent charges for     2019/20 over 2018/19 as set out in the table below.

* The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority will be setting their precept on Thursday 21 February 2019]. The amount shown in the above table is the estimated precept based on a 2.99% increase. If the precept set by WYFRA is different to the estimate contained in this report Members will be subsequently advised accordingly and the tax tables duly amended.

Action: Director of Finance