A council has defended its plans to raise council tax while “stockpiling” millions of pounds into its reserves.

At the annual budget of Dartford council last night (February 26) the local authority tabled plans to increase the bill for the forthcoming financial year by 2%.

It means the average Band D bill is now £2,195 – around £100 more than it was one year ago.

The council says it has decided to propose only a “limited increase” in the borough council element of resident’s bills while maintaining existing levels of service, introducing new initiatives to support people and continuing to invest significantly in social infrastructure.

But opposition leader, cllr Jonathon Hawkes (Lab), accused the Tory administration of making life harder for thousands of families across the borough.

Speaking after the budget meeting, he said: “The Conservative cost of living crisis has caused the biggest fall in living standards for Dartford families since records began.”

“Conservative councillors in Dartford are choosing to make life even harder for thousands of families across the borough by imposing more tax rises.

But leader of Dartford council Jeremy Kite (Con) hit back at the comments and pointed out his local authority has the lowest council tax in the county.

“Every council is putting their taxes up more than us,” he said.

“For the second year in a row, we have made the smallest council tax rise in Kent and we are proud of that.

“We do our best to keep it down.”

However, Labour was also critical of the decision to place £6.6million – a quarter of its available income – into reserves.

Cllr Hawkes added: “Last year, millions set aside for services were left unspent. This year, a quarter of our budget goes into reserves.

“At a time when residents are being asked to pay more, funds should be invested in our town, not stockpiled.

“Our town has plans – the Net Zero Strategy, ambitious goals. This budget ignores them.

“We need a plan that matches our vision for Dartford’s future. This budget is the wrong plan for Dartford.

But Cllr Kite explained the importance of keeping a healthy reserve pot.

“Our council has financial stability when almost every other council is struggling,” he said.

“The reason we have that is because we have a stable reserve.

“Whilst other councils are making cuts left, right and centre we have cut nothing in our budget because we believe in public services.”

We think long-term, not just about tomorrow

The Tory leader said he tried to run the council finances as any family or business would.

“We think long-term, not just about tomorrow,” he said. “If we spent lots of money people might feel good in the short term and that’s fine, until the bills come in.

“We take a long-term stable view of our budget.”

A bid by Labour to ask the council to help fund a new community hub and sports centre after multi-million funding was withdrawn by the government, was also defeated at the budget meeting.

Speaking after the decision, Swanscombe cllr Emma Ben Moussa (Lab), who proposed the amendment, said: “It’s frustrating that the Conservatives and SGRA have tonight decided to deprive Swanscombe of vital investment.

“There is a desperate need for more community facilities across Swanscombe, Greenhithe and Ebbsfleet.

“A lot of the building in the borough is taking place in our area and we need infrastructure to support it.

“Other projects in the borough have received investment from the council – I’m angry that the Conservatives won’t give Swanscombe the same opportunity.”

Chairman of Swanscombe and Greenhithe Peter Harman abstained from the vote as he felt seeking separate funding could damage the ongoing appeal to the Youth Investment Fund (YIF).

He said: “The grant process is still open, and the town council is still working towards getting the £4.3 million that we were promised by central government.

“It is not worth giving up when there is still a reasonable chance that we will be able to have the grant confirmed.

“Seeking a separate funding source would very likely compromise our efforts to have the YIF grant confirmed.”

He said he felt the request was bound to fail as the budget would have been prepared six months in advance and was doomed to failure.

“It is impractical to believe they will have just allocated £4.3 million ‘on the night’ to this project,” he said.

“If the budget amendment had even a 1% chance of being passed last night I would have supported it.”

Commenting on the funding request, Cllr Kite said: “I am working with the SGRA to come up with a viable plan.

“We could not just agree to give £4.3 million of our budget and I don’t think residents would want a council which writes a cheque without knowing the costings.”

Council tax is a compulsory charge on properties in England set by local authorities to raise money for providing services.

In England, local authorities with social care duties can raise council tax by up to 4.99%, without triggering a referendum. Others may increase it by up to 2.99%.