A council has limited its tax rise to 5.2 per cent but claims it could have been lower but for a lack of Government help.
Officials on East Sussex County Council said a disastrous Government funding settlement meant they could not settle at a lower figure of 3.2 per cent for the county council element of the tax.
The Tory-controlled authority got no extra money from the £340 million distributed to councils to help keep tax levels down.
However, deputy leader coun Daphne Bagshawe said the county council had managed to bring in a low figure compared to many other counties, which had received millions from the fund.
She said: "East Sussex has done everything it can to keep the council tax rise as low as possible while maintaining core services. We're maintaining a difficult and delicate balancing act."
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