AVERAGE council tax bills could increase by at least nine per cent and possibly more next year, Kent County Council leaders have warned.

The steep rise is being forecast because of changes expected in the way the Government calculates the amount it is prepared to allocate to councils to spend on services.

A nine per cent rise would mean about £70 more on Band D bills and push KCC’s share of the tax above £800.

Ministers have insisted that any changes will be fairer and more accurately reflect how well off or deprived an area is. But their reassurances have cut little ice with Kent County Council. It fears any changes will mask the fact that the county has as many deprived areas as prosperous ones.

No decisions have yet been made but the Government is expected to set out its changes next month.

County Hall’s ruling Tory administration says all of the options under consideration would leave Kent worse off and having to increase bills to plug any shortfall – which could be anything between £10million and £100million.

For every additional £10million KCC could lose under the new formula, council tax bills would need to increase by a further 2.6per cent to compensate – or services would be cut.

Council leader Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: “Under any redistribution, Kent would expect to be a winner not a loser. We are very concerned at what we have seen of the changes and this will be one of the most worrying budgets we have had to approach.”

It was “extraordinary” that the Government was expecting average bills to rise by 7.4 per cent when the level of inflation was so low, he added.

Finance chiefs say the Government shake-up could result in losses of between £10m and £100m to Kent and that under a “middle” option the county would be the third biggest loser of nearly 150 of the biggest councils.

Opposition Labour leader Cllr Mike Eddy accused KCC of scaremongering. He said: “Just when we need clear heads and real leadership Tory Kent starts trying to turn serious consultation into a petty political slanging match.”