Taxpayers in Welwyn Garden City could see less of their money spent on flowerbeds, verges and public gardens as the borough council tries to plug a £2million budget black hole.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council could also raise council tax, charge more for parking, and up prices at its Campus West cinema in a bid to save money.

Authority officers believe they can cut £176,000 from the net cost of services in the financial year 2024/25, which begins in April, compared with 2023/24.

But “forecasts suggest the council, even with a planned use of reserves, is required to find a further £2m of savings on the general fund by 2025/26 in order to live within its means and maintain a reasonable cushion in reserves”, a borough council report reads.

“This is a significant challenge and while the focus remains on safeguarding services, it may not be possible to find efficiencies of this magnitude and guarantee no impact upon frontline services.”

The 2024/25 budget will be the first produced by the Liberal Democrat and Labour administration which took on the council last May.

Its cabinet will meet on Tuesday, January 9 to debate the proposals – part of a process which is due to last until Monday, February 5.

Proposals include raising council tax by 2.96 per cent.

This means a taxpayer in the “average” band D home will put £237.60 towards Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in 2024/25 – £6.84 more than they do now.

Other authorities may separately choose to increase how much they receive in rates, including Hertfordshire County Council, which can add up to five per cent to its share of the bill.

Measures could also include a reduction in landscaping projects to save £17,000 and raising the annual garden waste collection subscription by 10 per cent – from £50 to £55 for a single bin.

Residents’ car parking permits could go up by 7.5 per cent for the first vehicle – £40 to £43.

A second car could set motorists back £70, up from £65, in 2024/25.

The £27 carers’ parking permit would be made free.

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At town centre car parks, the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council officers’ report notes standard weekday tariffs could rise by up to 14.4 per cent.

Full price cinema tickets could cost £10 – an increase of 50p – between Monday and Thursday.

Weekend cinema-goers face paying £12 for a full price ticket – up from £11.40 – but the authority would freeze children’s weekend tickets at £10.60.

“Campus West has been rebuilding the business since the Covid pandemic,” the report notes.

“Whilst it is improving, the service demand has not yet returned to its pre-Covid state and as a result any significant price rises are likely to have a negative impact on the business.”

The officers’ report adds: “The budget is being set in extremely uncertain times.

“For a number of previous years, the government had announced a longer-term settlement, but for 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 and now 2024/25, [it has] announced a single-year settlement.

“These short-term decisions continue to add to the uncertainties for the council in future years and add further weight to the longer term decision making.”