COUNCIL tax is expected to rise for Calderdale residents.

The council’s Cabinet will put forward a budget for councillors to vote on that includes a 1.95% rise in the three years to 2019/20.

Plus there will be a further 3% rise in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 to be spent on social care.

Clr Tim Swift, council leader, said: “We are again facing exceptional challenges to our budget over the next three years, having already been required to make savings of over £90 million since 2010.

“We will continue to provide those council services which are vital to our communities: protecting vulnerable children and adults; maintaining our highways network and making sure that our neighbourhoods are safe, clean and attractive places to live and work.

Grass cutting will not be as frequent in some parks
Grass cutting will not be as frequent in some parks

“We will have to ask local people to pay a bit more and we have to make some tough choices about some of the services we will provide in future as we now need to find an extra £12 million in savings by 2019/20.”

The budget commits £2m more in Adults and Children’s Services and £3.3m more for highways and drainage.

Opening hours of museums, libraries and waste centres could reduce to save cash, some manager jobs will be lost and grass cutting will not be as frequent in some parks. There will also be less money for Metro for bus and transport services.