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divdiv class=story-body readability=30 span class=story-date#13; span class=date6 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time19:00 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1Almost a third of all English councils plan to increase council tax next year despite a government cash incentive to freeze it, a survey suggests./p#13; pAccording to the research published by the Local Government Chronicle, Conservative-run county councils are most likely to be considering a rise./p#13; pMinisters said councillors faced a choice between helping with the cost of living or increasing local taxes./p#13; pBut 75% of the county councils which responded said they planned a rise./p#13; pOut of 354 councils, 154 responded to the survey. 53% said they would reject the extra government funding on offer - equivalent to a 1% council tax rise./p#13; pOn the other hand 32% said they would not accept the funding and were considering a rise - likely to be up to 1.9% since a rise of above 2% requires a referendum. 15% said they did not know./p#13; pOf 27 county councils, 12 responded to the Local Government Chronicle survey, and nine of these said they would reject the extra government funding./p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=2p class=first-childThere is a clear choice for councillors: extra help for hard-working people with the cost of living, or higher state taxation to fund more council administration”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditBrandon Lewis/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleLocal government minister/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_2Two said they would accept the government's funding and agree to freeze taxes for two years, and one did not know./p#13; span class=cross-head'Challenging circumstances'/span#13; pDavid Hodge, chairman of the County Councils Network and leader of Surrey County Council, said counties faced a particularly challenging set of circumstances./p#13; pHe said that demand for services - such as adult social care - was rising, roads had taken a hell of a hammering and were costly to repair and there was a major shortage in school places./p#13; pCentral government has a choice - they can either support councils in meeting growing demand pressures via direct support or by giving councils the flexibility to raise taxes locally, he added./p#13; pWe are already finding it difficult to ensure our books balance./p#13; pBut Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said he would encourage every council to take up the offer of funding, which would be paid in financial years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. /p#13; pOver the last three years, the government has worked with councils to cut council tax by 10% in real terms, he said. /p#13; pExtra funding is on the table for councils to freeze council tax for another two years. /p#13; pThere is a clear choice for councillors: extra help for hard-working people with the cost of living, or higher state taxation to fund more council administration./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center