A TEST Valley council tax rise of around double the rate of inflation is 'a significant achievement' according to the borough council's leader Ian Carr.

This year the borough council element of the tax is expected to rise by 4.86 per cent.

But the total each household will pay is expected to rise by a smaller percentage because the Govern-ment has earmarked more money for county councils.

However borough councils such as Test Valley have not been so fortunate and face bigger pressures on their budgets.

In Test Valley the government grant for the neighbourhood warden service is ending at a cost of £106,000, nationally imposed planning changes will cost £90,000 and the preparation of a local development framework will cost £275,000 in 2005/06.

While these increases are all brought about by central government the council has also budgeted to spend an extra £120,000 on its pet projects designed to improve the local environment and community life.

"A recommended cou-ncil tax increase of less than five per cent from the borough council for next year represents a significant achievement when you consider the extra things we are setting out to do," said Ian Carr. "Although we have managed to balance the budget this year, we have not been able to reduce our reliance on our reserves as much as we had hoped, which means we face an even bigger challenge next year."

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