TOWN Hall bosses are set to raise council tax by 3.5 per cent, it has been revealed.

The ruling Labour group will make proposals to raise the precept that residents across the borough will pay at a meeting of the full council next week.

The planned rise represents an increase of 1.5 per cent in the general council tax precept as well as a two per cent increase to pay specifically for adult social care — a move which was offered to authorities across the country by Chancellor George Osborne in his spending review last year.

In Bolton, the majority of homes are in council tax band A (valued at £40,000 or less when the bands were last established in 1991) and under the proposals residents in such properties will pay just more than £29 extra each year. Calculations for how much the remaining property bands will have to pay are currently being worked out.

Normally a rise of two per cent or more cannot occur without a referendum taking place — but Mr Osborne’s new measure means councils can now bring in an increase of up to 3.99 per cent without the say so of the public.

The extra social care rise and a plan to allow council’s to keep 100 per cent of the business rates they collect have been brought in to combat the withdrawal of the central government grant which is being phased out over the next four years.

Council chiefs said despite the extra tax-cash it can collect there still be a 'huge shortfall' in funding for the care of the borough’s most vulnerable people.

A meeting of the council’s cabinet also heard plans for an additional £5.5 million to be spent on capital programmes around the borough over the next year – stemming from cash made by the authority land and asset sales and dividends which is ring-fenced for one-off projects.

These include £1.5 million to fund new 3G sports pitches and £1 million to be used to improve the flagship leisure centre at Bolton One — which could be used to create saunas and steam rooms.

£1 million has been earmarked for new flashing speed warnings to be placed on the borough’s roads as well as another £1 million to improve street lighting within the town.

There is also provision for £500,000 to be added to the community empowerment fund for the voluntary and community sector as well as another half a million to develop free breakfast clubs at every primary school in the borough.

The proposals were agreed at the cabinet meeting but must be voted on at the full council meeting before they are brought into action.

Last year the council agreed to freeze council tax — but also put plans in place to save £43 million from its two-year budget — an estimate chiefs say they are still on course to meet.

Explaining why he has now resolved to take up the Government’s two per cent adult social care option and bring in a further general rise of 1.5 per cent, council leader Cliff Morris said: “George Osborne has recommended that councils bring in this rise of two per cent to specifically pay for adult social care — because he recognises it is a sector that needs extra money.

“Even with that increase, we are still left with a huge shortfall in that area — because the two per cent rise only gives us £1.7 million, so we have decided a general rise is needed.

“We are doing this because we don’t want to make any more cuts and I think most people will be understanding because they will have elderly relatives who will need looking after.”

The money raised from the adult social care precept will be spent on services that are remaining under council control and not being transferred to a new arms-length company which will go live in April.

Speaking about the new funding projects, Cllr Morris added: “We have had a bad winter and this has impacted on young people playing sport so our plan to create new 3G pitches will help with that.

“Bolton One is a flagship leisure centre and we want to make sure it stays up to date and that money can be used for things like saunas and steam rooms. We have set aside funding to offer free breakfasts at primary schools across the whole borough because we know that when children are hungry they don’t learn.”

Responding to the plan to raise council tax, Bolton’s Conservative leader Cllr David Greenhalgh said his party will oppose the proposals.

He said: “We feel that a 3.5 per cent increase is excessive for the citizens of Bolton. We think it is a hard sell for the people of the town when the authority has approximately £150 million in reserves. We don’t think we should be going to the people of Bolton when the coffers are relatively full.”

Cllr Morris added that of that reserve cash — only about £430,000 is available for re-allocation.