The Town Council is in the process of developing its Revenue and Capital Budget for the 2022/23 financial year.
Clearly the budget that we set is important to our local community, both in terms of how our spending plans may impact on the provision of services and investment in assets for the benefit of the town, and in terms of the level of Council Tax that we need to raise from local taxpayers in order to fund these plans.
In overall terms, the Council is proposing a 2022/23 Budget that protects and maintains all of our current services next year.
The Council is also maintaining some surplus resources in the budget which will allow it to replenish its balances and reserves. This will help ensure that we can continue to make capital investment in community assets such as our cemeteries, allotments, parks and play areas, for the benefit of the community, in the coming years.
In order to do so, the Council is proposing that it raises the Town Council proportion of the Council Tax bill by 1.99% next year.
This increase is well below the current rate of inflation and, to achieve this, savings have been made across all budgets to limit the increase in the Town Council Tax element of the Council Tax bill to our local residents.
This would increase the Town Council element of the Council Tax bill by £3.32 per year for the vast majority of local taxpayers i.e. those living in Band A properties.
The Council appreciates that any increase in the monthly outgoings of our local taxpayers will not be popular in these difficult times.
However, we hope you will agree that a monthly increase of 28p is a small price to pay to ensure that all the existing services provided by the Town Council can be protected for another year.
Have Your Say
There is much more information on the Council’s draft 2022/23 budget proposals, should you wish to read this, on the finance section of the Council’s website.
If you wish to comment on the draft budget, or provide your views on the services provided by the Town Council, we have recently issued our Annual Budget Survey.
The survey can be accessed electronically via the links on the Council website and social media channels and copies are also available at various community facilities around the town including the Town Council Offices, Oak Leaf Sports and Golf Complexes. The survey will close at 12 noon on Friday 31st December.