COUNCIL taxpayers in Monmouthshire could face a rise of around 10 per cent in their bills from April.

The average Band D home in the county currently has a £730 council tax - and a 10 per cent rise would mean the bill going up to £803.

But the final figure will not be decided by the Monmouthshire county council cabinet until all 42 councillors have been consulted.

At a special meeting of the cabinet last week it was agreed to consult with the council's select and area committees to seek their views on the budget.

The money the council gets from the National Assembly, known as the Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) has gone up by just over 6 per cent.

But the council has to meet a growing demand for its services, especially those provided for children and older people, plus pay rises and inflation.

Council leader Councillor David Waring (pictured) said: "This is a very difficult budget for Wales in general and Monmouthshire in particular as we have found our service demands are increasing above the level of Assembly support.

"We have tried to balance the need for services with the demands on taxpayers, and will take all views from the consultation with members into consideration before our final budget recommendations go to the full council."

Steve Greenslade, the council's finance director said increasing last year's budget figure of £92.7million in line with inflation takes it to £99 million, but that figure is only arrived at by agreeing to make savings of £3.2million.

This includes a figure of £1.9 million by the lifelong learning and leisure department and £804,000 by social and housing.

This leaves the council £1.1million short, and to bridge the gap the corporate management team propose using £580,000 from reserve funding, which would then mean a rise in council tax of 9.5 per cent.

Mr Greenslade pointed out that if the council spent at the level recommended by the Assembly, it would mean a rise of 7.3 per cent for council taxpayers, and a Band D taxpayer would pay £659.98.

He said spending at that level per person is £1,488, which is the second lowest figure in Wales, and much less than the Welsh average of £1,649.

He estimates the deficit in meeting payments for teachers' pensions to be £440,000 in Monmouthshire, and said approaches are being made to the Assembly to honour their pledge that teachers' pension increases will be fully funded by the government.