THE average Band D council tax in the Caradon district has been set at £1,314.89 per year. Of this £969.82 will go to Cornwall County Council, £171.31 to Caradon District Council, £131.73 to Devon and Cornwall Police and an average of £42.03 to town and parish councils. Caradon's leader, Cllr Hugh Francis, said: 'Caradon's budget setting was extremely difficult this year as our costs have gone up by 5% and our government grant has only risen by 4.3%. 'But we are also very much aware that local tax payers don't want to see a big increase in council tax, so we have taken a close look at where savings could be made within the council and also dipped into our reserves. 'The result is that the increase on our portion of the council tax amounts to just 16p a week for the average household.' Caradon will receive 13p of every pound of council tax collected. Only 45% of Caradon's net expenditure is raised through council tax, with the rest coming from central government grant funding. In cash terms, Caradon received an increase of £262,000 in its government grant for the coming year and continues to face serious funding pressures. Caradon's neighbouring Cornish councils again received relatively generous government settlements of over £1-million and £2.5-million more than Caradon. Although Caradon is required to collect the whole of the council tax, it has no control over the levels at which Cornwall County Council, the police and the town and parish councils set their portions of the council tax.
