Frozen district council tax rates and below inflation rises mean taxpayers will be shelling out less in the next financial year.

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council has not increased its share of the 2010/11 tax bill. The move was agreed at a council meeting last Thursday and made possible following £2 million of council savings.

Speaking at the meeting at Reigate Town Hall, council leader Joan Spiers said: "Many people are facing hardship and need help so we are recommending no increase in council tax.

"This is the first time this borough has been able to do this. My thanks go to members who challenged me to bring in as low an increase as possible."

The freeze means the borough's share of the bill for a Band D home will be £193.83 – equivalent to £3.73 a week.

The agreement by council staff to forgo their pay rise led to savings of £700,000 per year and councillors have also had their allowances frozen.

Executive member for finance Cllr Victor Broad said: "We have to balance residents' wishes for lower council tax against demands for improvements and this has been a challenging year."

He added: "In this climate we can see no justification in having this council run at a higher cost than last year."

However, as Surrey County Council (SCC), which takes 74p of every £1 paid by council tax-payers, is increasing its bill by 2.5 per cent and Surrey Police by 2.41 per cent, Band D homes will be paying £1,503.09 – £22.41 more than in 2009/10.

The county council's rise, agreed last Tuesday, is the lowest since the system of funding local services started 17 years ago, and is below the current inflation rate of 2.9 per cent.

Central Government has provided just £127.5 million of the county council's £680.4 million budget for 2010/11, making it one of the worst funded counties in the country.

Deputy SCC leader David Hodge said: "I would have liked it to be a lot less but we have to be realistic."

Tandridge District Council was due to agree to increase its share of the council tax bill by 2.9 per cent at a meeting on Tuesday.

Mole Valley District Council has proposed a zero per cent council tax rise which will be considered at a full council meeting on Tuesday, February 23.