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A referendum will be held over a Surrey County Council (SCC) proposal to increase council tax by a massive 15% .

Conservative council leader David Hodge announced the proposal on Thursday morning (January 19) in a bid to plug huge funding gaps in the council’s budget.

Cllr Hodge said: “We have to set a budget that will protect vital services for Surrey residents.

“Government has cut our annual grant by £170m since 2010 - leaving a huge gap in our budget.

“Demand for adults social care, learning disabilities and children’s services is increasing every year.

“So I regret, despite us finding £450m worth of savings from our annual budget, we have no choice but to propose this increase in council tax.”

The 2016/17 council tax figure for a band D property is £1,268,28, a 15% increase would push this figure up by £190.24 a year.

Under current rules the local authority can only increase the charge by an extra 4.99% a year without a referendum.

The council tax hike has been slammed by opposition parties.

Councillor Hazel Watson, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: “Liberal Democrat councillors on SCC oppose this huge increase in council tax which would be the largest increase in the country.

“A 15% increase would be unaffordable for many Surrey residents and would hit the elderly and those on fixed-incomes hardest. It would be quite wrong for the Tories to try and shift this funding problem onto Surrey residents.”

(Image: TMS)

Get Surrey understands the decision was taken by the Surrey Conservatives in a meeting “behind closed doors” at County Hall.

A referendum would have to be held to push through such a large increase and it is likely it would coincide with the county council elections in May.

Cllr Watson added: “It is astonishing that the Conservative-administration think Surrey residents should carry the can for their own financial failings and the government’s failure to properly fund services.

"The crisis in the funding of adult social care needs a long-term solution from national government not a temporary sticking plaster, which is what a large council tax rise would offer.”

(Image: Getty Images)

Labour councillor Robert Evans said he was shocked by the proposed increase, saying: “I’m afraid this just shows how badly Surrey Conservatives have mismanaged the county’s financial affairs.

“Council tax is an unfair and unbalanced tax, which hits the poorest hardest but the real issue is the complacency and incompetence in the way they have run the council.

"Presumably, they even think Surrey people will back them in a referendum. I think not.

“We have a Conservative government and a Conservative county council. Surrey has eleven Tory MPs one of whom is Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and yet they still can’t balance the books. It’s a disgrace.

Cllr Evans addded: “This top heavy administration has spent money on huge allowances for themselves, and got their priorities all wrong.

“They found £1.5 million pounds last year on a huge Magna Carta day and now they want to close fire-stations. It’s just not right.”