RESIDENTS are facing a second inflation busting increase their council tax bill.

A meeting to set the budget to night, it is proposed to repeat the 2017/2018 increase of 4.99 per cent.

Among the proposals being considered are £4.9 million for adult social care, £1 million for children's services, £14.4 million for highways and road improvements over the next three years, in addition to the £2 million being spent between now and end of March, 2018.

There is a planned £350,000 reinvestment into the revenue budget to fund school crossing patrols, as well as abolishing library fines from April.

The borough is committed in trying to reduce the overall deficit, which now stands at £40.67 million, comprising of £26.51 million worth of additional cost pressures and £14.16 million in funding cuts.

The meeting is also being asked to agree a further 2.99 per cent rise in 2019/2020, which in three years will have pushed up bills by more than 13 per cent when reflected increases are factored in.

The new increase is likely to see bills for Band A properties rising by at least £45 this year, Band B properties £50, Band C by £60, Band D by £70, Band E by £85, Band F by £100, Band G by £115 and Band H by £140.

A report prepared for the meeting details that the overall budget movement for 2018/19 is intended to increase the net budget by £3.42 million or 2.10 per cent, taking it from from £160.83 million in 2017/2018 to £164.25 million in 2018/2019.

In a foreword to the report, Cllr Patrick Myers, the executive member for corporate resources, said: “It should be noted that if all the proposals in this report are implemented there currently still remains a residual budget gap of: £6.25 million in 2019/20, and £8.85 million in 2020/21

“Throughout 2018 the executive will continue to review proposals to address this budget gap.”

In proposing the budget to council Cllr Myers, explains: “Since the draft budget was presented to executive on October 16, 2017 there have been a number of factors which have contributed towards an overall increase in the funding gap in our budget for 2018/19 from £18.03 million to £22.95 million and over the next three years from £36 million to £40.67 million.”

Cllr Myers said many of the efforts put in in in previous years across the piece to raise the level of outcomes for young people in further education and training were now helping the borough to benefit as were council initiatives and partnerships.

He added: “This has been no easy challenge for a low funded, low tax authority like Trafford and has only been achieved by a strong culture of innovation and financial management across all services.

“This year, however, is different, not because those challenges have gone away, but because we have changed our approach to how we overcome them and fund services provided by the council.

“This is primarily through new income following the pursuit of economic growth and income generation strategies over many years that are now paying dividends in supporting revenue budget.

“This is a hugely exciting time to live in our borough and in our many and varied communities, across our principal towns and their surrounding geographies there is much that we can all be excited by as we begin 2018.”

Council leader Cllr Sean Anstee said: “Over many years, my administration has chosen to take pro-growth, commercial and investment decisions, sometimes opposed, but are now proving their worth by putting the council in a financial position to invest in the priorities residents and businesses have shared with us.

"We have chosen to invest carefully and our meticulous planning in recent years is now starting to pay off."