FIVE PERCENT RISE IN DISTRICT'S RATES

The council's policy and resources committee met last week to decide on the 4.96 per cent increase, which will be combined with the regional rate - currently frozen by the Stormont Executive - to increase the average domestic rates bill by 2.5 per cent.

Those who pay an annual rates bill of 1,000 will pay around 50 pence extra each week. This equates to 25 extraover the year.

Council Chairman Elizabeth Ingram welcomed the Committee's recommendation.

She said, "While negotiating this year's domestic rate, we were keen to keep the increase as low as possible because many families are suffering extreme financial hardship.

"However, we still need to guarantee enough revenue is available to progress our capital investment programme and deliver real, tangible results to local people before we merge with the councils of Armagh and Craigavon in May 2011.

"Over the past few years, we've been working hard to build a better future for local people and have spent nearly 10 million on a package of priority projects many of which have resulted in new and improved state-of-the-art facilities and a much enhanced environment and economy.

"It is recognised that once the councils amalgamate, it will undoubtedly be more difficult to influence decision makers concerned with the much larger Council area."

Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, Councillor Junior McCrum, outlined some of the additional cost pressures the Council is under.

He said, "Sustaining the provision of high quality, value for money services and facilities this coming year is all the more difficult because of cost pressures beyond our control.

"These include a reduction in the general grant by 1m, increased landfill taxes, higher waste management and recycling targets, pension costs set at a regional level and fuel and energy cost increases for the running of facilities and the delivery of services.

"On top of this, the Council is liable for the transition costs of local government re-organisation. However, we've scrutinised our expenditure across all services and introduced savings in many areas."