RESIDENTS in Test Valley are unlikely to see a rise in how much they pay for the borough authority.

At a meeting of Test Valley Borough Council’s cabinet on Wednesday night, a freeze on the tax was recommended.

This would generate an income of £8,868,722 for the council, with a Band D property in the borough paying £141.41 per month.

Last year the council increased the Band D rate by £5, or 3.67 per cent.

The decision was made after a “positive performance” by the council’s Project Enterprise (PE) initiative, which the authority set up in 2014 to increase income from investments and reduce reliance on government funding.

The council has said this increase has offset some of the reduction in government funding, enabling the authority to avoid leaning on taxpayers to sustain and grow its services.

Since 2014, the council has invested in a number of properties through PE that have sought to generate additional revenue income. This additional income has been generated by investing cash reserves held by the council in projects that will ‘yield greater returns than the current investment portfolio’.

It is expected from these investments the council will generate an income of £2.009m in 2019/20.

Finance portfolio holder, Councillor Peter Giddings, said: “I am pleased that we are in a position to freeze council tax this year, largely as a result of the success of the Project Enterprise initiative and the council taking a far more entrepreneurial approach to managing its finances and generating income. Despite reductions in the money we get from central government our council tax remains one of the lowest in the country and is £43 lower than the average in the rest of England.

“Project Enterprise has been a great success so far and we will continue to build on that success over the coming years. The financial picture looks ever more challenging for local authorities but we are ready to meet that challenge and our ambition is to thrive rather than simply survive.”

A final decision on the freeze will be made at a full council meeting on February 25.