Council tax in Trafford is set to go up by 4 per cent EVERY year until 2020 as swingeing budget cuts continue to bite - and school crossing patrols are in the firing line.

Town hall chiefs are considering raising the household bill by the maximum amount possible each year for the next three years as part of their budget plans.

Another measure will see schools or community groups that want to keep crossing patrols having to pay for the service.

But the town hall has avoided moving to three-weekly general rubbish collections by instead charging people to collect garden waste and getting more strict on recycling.

Parking charges are also set to rise.

In total, cuts for 2017/18 will total £22m.

There has not been a general rise in council tax in the borough for the past six years - although there was a 2 per cent rise last year under the government’s so-called ‘social care’ tax.

But council bosses say they’ll now need to increase the charge to balance the books.

The majority of the town hall’s income is through council tax.

Half the extra cash, around £1.7m each year, will be ring-fenced to protect social care. The rest will be used to plug the remaining budget gap.

Town hall chiefs have highlighted that council tax bills in Trafford are the lowest in the north west.

The bill for a Band D property will go up by £45 a year.

Budget proposals for next year include:

Hiking parking charges to bring in an extra £702,000

Transferring in-house ‘reablement’ services for those leaving hospital to an outside firm, saving £946,000

Charging schools that want to keep crossing patrols for the service, bringing in £350,000

Reviewing the council tax support scheme, to bring eligibility in line with Universal Credit, saving £160,000. Those in receipt will still get a 100 per cent discount

Charging residents - if they choose - £40 a year to collect away garden waste, bringing in £430,000

Launching a recycling responsibility campaign - which could including fining those consistently putting things in the wrong bins - to save £151,000

Cutting property repair and maintenance bills by £89,000

Slashing energy and water bills by £80,000

Staff taking 1.5 days of unpaid leave, saving £500,000

Transferring bowling green maintenance to individual clubs, saving £18,000

Reviewing the council’s bad debt provision, saving £200,000

Getting the best deal on insurance premiums, saving £50,000

Budget accounting efficiencies, saving £332,000

Parking fees will increase as follows, before being frozen for three years:

30 minutes - 20p to 70p

2 hours - 50p to £1.50

3 hours - £1 to £2.50

4 hours - £2 to £3.50

Full day - £4 (£3 on street) to £7 (£6 on street)

Those using seven off-street car parks, which are currently free, will be charged £1 if they stay for more than two hours.

The sites are Lacy Street in Stretford; Flixton Road, Urmston; Manor Avenue, Urmston; Hampson Street, Sale Moor; Balmoral Road, Altincham; Atkinson Road, Urmston; and James Street, Sale Moor.

Council chiefs highlight that parking charges were cut across the borough in 2008 in a bid to boost town centre trade - and that prices are still among the cheapest in Greater Manchester.

Private car parks, they add, are often more expensive.

Bosses introduced fortnightly collections of smaller general waste bins in 2013, with weekly collections scrapped.

Despite Trafford boasting one of the best recycling rates in the country, they say they need to do more to cut costs - and insist charging people for garden waste collections and being ‘more strict’ means they can avoid moving to three-weekly collections.

It is thought around a third of households will opt into garden waste collections.

Those who consistently flout recycling rules could be fined.

Residents who don’t want to pay £40 for the garden waste collection, can pay £7 for a compost bin.

Weekly food collections will still be free.

(Image: PA)

Schools - or community groups - that want to retain a crossing patrol will have to pay the council.

Bosses say they have no choice but to think of alternative ways to deliver the discretionary service because the current model is ‘not sustainable’.

The council was forced to do a u-turn two-years-ago when they proposed scrapping scores of crossing patrols.

The ‘reablement service’ - which helps people leaving hospital could be transferred to an outside body - is the last social service taken care of in-house.

Handing responsibility to a care provider will save cash, without impacting upon those benefiting from the service.

A £9m cost-effective LED street lighting project was introduced last year, and is around half way through. That will save £100,000 next year.

Some £2.8m of council reserves will be used next year to help balance the books. But the council still needs to find an extra £2m in the coming months.

The bulk of the savings – £9m – will come from measures passed in the last few years. The full-year effect of some of this year’s cuts will help balance the books next time around.

It’s not all doom and gloom.

The council is planning to pump £24m into leisure facilities across Trafford in an ‘unprecedented’ cash-injection.

They want to bring out-dated centres in Urmston, Sale, Altrincham and Stretford up to scratch.

They plan to use capital receipts, some borrowing, and new sources of income to pay for the mammoth project.

Difficult decisions to be made

Council chiefs say the plan is about ‘making the Trafford pound go further’ in the face of continuing austerity measures, changes to government funding arrangements and rising demand for services.

Council leader Sean Anstee said: “We want to take the Trafford pound further, make it more effective in the way we budget and use it for planning for the future, so that employment, housing and investment opportunities are in place to continue to grow Trafford as the economic powerhouse of Greater Manchester it has become.

“There remain difficult financial decisions to be made the achieve savings over the next three years, whilst still providing the best possible services. We want to show residents that by investing in, and developing a range of services, including joined-up healthcare provision and delivery of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework , we are committed to supporting the borough to flourish.”