COUNCIL tax in Monmouthshire will increase by 4.95 per cent in 2015/16 after councillors voted to accept a plan put in place last month.

The increase was finalised at a meeting at County Hall in Usk today. A policy package worth more than £20 million in the authority’s budget over the next three years was adopted as a whole by members at a meeting on January 22.

For an average Band D property in the county, the decision means an increase of £51.65 from 2014/15's charge to £1,094.98.

But independent councillor Debby Blakebrough said the authority should have planned council tax rises more incrementally over recent years after the authority froze it in 2011/12 and 2012/13.

Cllr Blakebrough said: “The CAB [Citizens Advice Bureau] is saying people can’t afford their council tax and at this point I’m filled with sadness and disappointment. I remember just over three years ago in a press release our leader was saying how proud he was he didn’t need to increase the council tax.

“At least five years ago you should have seen the writing on the wall. You knew hard times were coming, budget cuts and services being threatened.”

She added residents were being “thumped in the face” with such a hefty increase.

But the council’s leader Cllr Peter Fox said the freezes over recent years were necessary, as with the rise this year.

Cllr Fox added: “I make no apology for doing what it could to freeze council tax for two years when people were in a dire situation. We are seeing green shoots of recovery across the economy.”

Last month Monmouthshire council’s cabinet member for finance, Cllr Phil Murphy, said a budget cut of 4.3 per cent in their grant from the Welsh Government for 2015/16 was “considerably more savage” than the authority had anticipated.

The council held its budget meeting last month to enact savings for next year as quickly as possible.