An extra 37 pence a week is now to be added to council tax bills in Marlborough following the loss of its government support grant of £31,325 and despite cuts of £12, 260 being made in the council’s budget for 2014/2015.
This is the recommendation that came from the Town Council’s Finance and Policy Committee last night (Monday) when it was revealed that all parish and town councils across the country have had their support grants slashed by government decree.
A new precept of £145.82 for the average Band D property in Marlborough was unanimously agreed by the committee, an increase of 15.49 per cent on the last financial year and the equivalent of 37 pence a week.
That will now go to a full council meeting for approval, other increases to the overall council tax bill from Wiltshire Council believed to be capped, along with the budgets of the county police and fire brigade services.
“There is no way Marlborough is an expensive town to live in,” finance chairman Councillor Andrew Ross told colleagues. “There are towns that are far more expensive than us. We are still inside the two per cent limit set by the government.”
Councillor Richard Allen pointed out: “The withdrawal of the support grant is causing pain right across the county. It seems fairly unanimous that every town and parish council is going to have to increase its precept. It is a national problem.”
And the Mayor, Councillor Guy Loosmore, added: “We are between a rock and a hard place if you look at what central government is effectively saying about what it is cutting away.
“Some of what they are doing is quite dangerous in the longer term because if we get capped after this we will have very little space in which to manoeuvre.
“It is important that we communicate that to the public I a very clear way because people consistently misunderstand what it is all about.
“Immediately you say council tax is going up by this percentage they say, ‘My god!’ The reality is that £21.15 on the total Band D council tax is just over a one per cent increase overall.”
He was referring to the fact that the bulk of council tax is applied by Wiltshire Council along with the police and fire precepts and the fact that Business Rates, on which the Chancellor has promised action, go direct to Whitehall, not to any local authority, the budget of Marlborough Town Council being a small element of what households pay overall.
“It is important that this year we make it very clear that what we are doing is sensible and prudent and that we don’t leave ourselves exposed,” added the Mayor.
Councillor Ross, a retired accountant, told Marlborough News Online: “The loss of the support grant was well anticipated and we thought we should take it on the chin this year and accept it as part of what the government has done to financing local government.”
He praised town clerk Shelley Parker and her staff for their “brilliant job” in reducing the town council’s budget by £12,260, a significant part of which has come from re-negotiating the council’s corporate insurance policy.
The town council is retaining £233,000 in its general reserves and a further £100,000 in specifically earmarked reserves that include £60,000 for town hall maintenance, £20,000 for the introduction of CCTV and £10,000 for maintaining open spaces.
“If you stop cutting the grass then you can start saving money but what can you cut if you want to keep civic pride going?” he asked.
“Clearly we can’t be happy. What has happened has been inevitable. Our budget now is as tight as you can get it. We are not a profligate council. We had just nowhere to go.”
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