Lincolnshire County Council is heading for a £1bn budget in the next three years.
The authority’s executive discussed the coming year’s budget at a meeting on Tuesday.
A rise of 4.99 per cent in council tax is on the cards, but the county council could have a surplus beyond the next financial year, according to a report to members.
“This is predicted upon maximising the council tax increase in each year of the plan,” the report adds.
The coming year’s budget of £868.5m sees a £61.9m increase on the current financial year.
But it also sees a total of £62.7m in savings in the medium term with £35.5m in the coming year.
There is extra government money heading to the county council from 2028/29 as a result of a redistribution scheme. The authority has long claimed to be under-funded by the government.
“The council is taking significant action to achieve savings within its cost base. This includes the planned delivery of more than £62.7m savings over the medium term,” the report says.
The predicted surplus will not come until after the next financial year.
“This is predicted upon maximising the council tax increase in each year of the financial plan,” members were told.
The funding base for the council could be more than £1bn by 2029/30. The council’s finding comes from council tax, business rates and grants from central government.
“The fair funding exercise has identified that Lincolnshire needs a greater proportion of national funding than it had been receiving, which implies the council has been underfunded for more than a decade,” the report says.
The two most significant areas of cost are adult care (£32.9m) and children in care placements (£14.7m).
Adult social care commissions care through 8,000 residential beds and more than four million hours of community-based support.
The final ratification of the budget for the coming year will be made at a meeting of the full council on February 3.
The Reform leadership has been criticised by the Conservative group for potentially using the maximum council tax increase allowed while extra funding has been found.
“Despite receiving extra funding, Reform has imposed the maximum council tax rise, above inflation,” said leader Richard Davies.
