Angus council tax freeze agreed

The council tax for a Band D property will be £1,072

Angus residents will see their council tax remain the same after a freeze was agreed for 2008/09.

The charge for a Band D property will remain at £1,072.

The figure was approved at the council budget meeting, which also agreed a £5m investment in roads, including £250,000 for winter maintenance.

It was also agreed to spend £10m on a new swimming pool for Montrose and £250,000 on enhancing Monifieth town centre.

In his budget speech, Councillor Mark Salmond outlined the council's ambitions for restoring pride in communities across the county.

He said: "We want to revitalise civic pride, make it a number one community priority, encouraging residents to take greater ownership of their communities.

"That's why we have created a number of new funds to provide the money to help them take forward local priorities and help us enhance the towns and villages of Angus."

Tight financial settlements are here to stay and even greater efficiency savings will be expected Bob Myles Angus Council leader

The council has allocated £100,000 to a new Civic Pride Fund.

The same amount has been assigned to an Environmental Improvement Grant Scheme to make over rundown areas, remove graffiti and upgrade shop frontages.

A Parks and Cemeteries Renewal and Repair Fund has also been set up with £400,000 to spend.

Mr Salmond said: "Working together in this way will help put Angus back where it belongs as an attractive place to live and visit."

Council leader Bob Myles said the local authority had to come up with new and more efficient ways of working to make the most of the limited resources it had.

He said: "Our budget allocation from the government was 3.3% less than the national average and even £2.62m of departmental efficiency savings couldn't fully fund the gap and we are left with a £3.062m hole between service demands and commitments and the grant allocated.

"It is good that budgets are no longer hampered by ring-fencing but we could have better used the freedom this offers if all of the previously ring-fenced monies had been rolled into the settlement.

"But tight financial settlements are here to stay and even greater efficiency savings will be expected."