HOUSEHOLDERS will have to pay sixty pence a week more for the county council share of their council tax this year.

The 3.7 per cent proposed increase will be the lowest ever set by Kent County Council and will see average yearly bills rise by a little more than £30 to £877 for those in Band D homes.

The increase will be slightly less for those in Band C homes, which represent the largest number in the county. Their bills will rise by 54 pence a week, leading to a yearly KCC bill of £779.

KCC’s ruling Conservative leaders said the plans, which will have to be approved at a meeting next month, represented a “value-for-money” budget.

Council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart insisted there were no hidden cuts and around £30million of savings had been achieved by cutting administration costs.

He also repeated his claim that had ministers used up-to-date census information, Kent would have received £9million more – money that could have lopped a further two per cent off bills.

The county council has cut about one in four administration jobs as part of a three-year efficiency drive that started in 2002.

KCC has also unveiled details of what is thought to be its largest-ever capital investment programme. Over the next three years, more than £900 million is to be spent on roads, schools and other building plans.

In 2004-2005, some £360 million is to be spent, with two thirds going on building new and improving existing school buildings.

Sir Sandy said: “An increase of 3.7 per cent is still higher than we would have liked. We have been determined to produce a value-for-money budget but also invests in the priorities of local people.

"We have set out a budget for the highest-ever spend on school buildings and on new vocational centres, as well as investment in crime reduction and community wardens.”

Around £5 million of savings will come from streamlining the way in which elderly and vulnerable people access social care.

Council taxpayers will contribute around £453million towards KCC’s budget of £1.5billion for 2005-2006.

Opposition Labour spokesman Cllr Derek Smyth accused the ruling Tories of a “smoke and mirrors” budget.

“Kent received an increase of 4.9 per cent from the Government. That was a generous sum and we think an increase of 3.7 per cent is too high, particularly when benefits and state pensions have gone up by 3.1 per cent,” he said.

The final budget and council tax levels will be agreed in early February.