An extra £2.7 million will be raised through the council tax hike.
Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones will increase his share of council tax by 5.8% after councillors approved the plans.
The police precept was unanimously approved at a meeting of the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel in Manby on Monday, February 5.
The Conservative, who was elected as PCC back in 2016, has also committed to using £5.3 million in reserves in his proposed budget.
An extra £2.7 million will be raised through the council tax hike, which works out as an average increase of less than 25p a week.
Band D properties will now pay £217.44 annually instead of £205.47 under the proposals.
The £118 million budget includes plans for a new Command and Control system for Lincolnshire Police, £1 million for victims’ services, and a further £1 million for crime reduction projects.
When asked by panel member and Boston borough councillor Stephen Woodliffe how he expected hard-pressed residents to fund such a significant increase, Marc Jones said: “I’m very proud of the fact that Lincolnshire is a low council tax county – the third lowest council tax paying county in the country.
“To live in a Band D property across the border in Nottinghamshire you’ll pay around £350 a year more for the same mix of services.
“That said, there does need to be a recognition of the fact that we have to pay if we want local services.
“From my point of view, I don’t want to put council tax up at all. But what I do want to do is deliver the kind of public service that the public requests.
“What the public are telling me is ‘we will pay more but we want to see more, we want to get more.’
“The frustration I have is that I’m a little bit shackled by the fact that to deliver them what they say they want, I would have to spend the best part of £1 million holding a referendum to be able to do what I’ve been elected to do.”
Whatsapp
