CIVIC chiefs in the New Forest will decide tonight how much council tax bills will rise over the next 12 months.

The ruling Tories are proposing a two per cent increase – equivalent to £3.05 per household.

It means people living in an average band D property would pay £155.76 to New Forest District Council.

Total bills would be about £1,500 on average once charges by the county, town and parish councils, police and fire service have been added.

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All 37 different town and parish councils within the New Forest have set different charges.

An average band D householder will find the lowest town and parish council charge in Copythorne (£9.88) and the highest set by Totton and Eling (£108.23).

Council bosses have already axed 30 jobs to balance the budget, as reported in the Daily Echo.

The biggest saving – expected to total £450,000 – involves changes in the way that the council’s five health and leisure centres are run, which has resulted in the loss of 20 jobs.

Other departments have reduced their staffing costs by a total of £750,000 by not filling ten vacant positions, redeploying approximately five posts and making approximately 15 posts redundant, of which less than half were compulsory.

A revision of refuse collection rounds will save £100,000.

People using the health and leisure centres and Dibden Golf Centre are among those facing an increase in council charges.

The district council is having to juggle its finances after seeing its income drop as a result of the recession.

Further savings will be needed over the next three years following a report which warns that the authority is facing a potential budget shortfall of £1.3m in the 2011/12 financial year, rising to more than £2m the following year.

• The full public meeting of New Forest District Council takes place tonight from 6.30pm at the council offices in Lyndhurst.