More than 150 local authorities in England intend to freeze their council tax from April, with 180 yet to decide and 18 planning to put the tax up.
Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government show that 147 councils plan to accept their share of up to £675m to freeze the council tax for 2012/13. Another five are set to cut the rate.
With around a month to go until authorities take final budget decisions, a number plan to turn down the offer because the money for the freeze will not be added to councils’ baseline funding in the future.
This financial year, all local authorities in England froze their council tax, as the cash will be included in their settlements with Whitehall for the period of the Comprehensive Spending Review up to 2014/15.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles last week warned finance officers that they risked getting involved in politics if they recommended a tax rise in their areas.
Ministers have told councils that if they raise the tax by more than 3.5% they will need to ask local people to back the decision in a referendum.
Pickles told the Local Government Association's finance conference on January 27 that rejecting the freeze and increasing tax below the level that would trigger a vote would be a ‘highly political decision’.
Releasing the names of councils that have indicated they will freeze the tax, he said that the move would be ‘welcome news’ for taxpayers, whose bills have doubled since 1997.
He added: ‘It is very early in the budget setting process, and I would fully expect this number to increase significantly over the next few weeks.
‘Every councillor still to decide has an obligation to keep the living costs of their residents down and take the freeze money. A vote against a freeze is a vote for a punitive tax rise when typical bills are already around £120 a month.’
Since Brighton City Council first confirmed it would raise the tax by 3.5%, another 17 authorities have said they will raise the tax rather than accept the one-off freeze.
These include Leicester City Council, which also plans to increase the tax by 3.5%, and Peterborough City Council, which is planning a 2.95% increase.
