Council tax bills in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge look set to rise by 23% this year after an increase was supported by Town Councillors last night (Tuesday, January 23rd).
Members of Burnham and Highbridge Town Council’s Finance and Resources Committee voted in favour of a proposal to raise the council’s total budget for the coming year to £953,000 this year from £768,500 last year.
The committee proposed a £27.61 per year increase on Band D properties to £143.71 from £116.10 last year although the final figures are subject to a vote by the full Town Council.
The increase comes as the Town Council has been under pressure to set aside funding to maintain public services due to Somerset Council declaring a financial emergency and having to find £100m of savings to avoid going effectively bankrupt.
Cllr Ganesh Gudka, Town Council Committee Chairman, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We have been working at this for a couple of months and have had to make some hard decisions based on the Somerset Council position. The fundamental point for me is that we maintain the basic public services that are needed for the town.”
“We are having to take them on – someone has to pay for them ultimately. We are recomending to full council that the precept is increased to cover those extras. It’s hard, but we feel we have the balance of priorities right. There are schemes to help those suffering financial hardship.”
Councillors decided against taking money from the £370,000 set aside in its reserves due to a recommendation that councils should maintain 3-6 months of running costs.
During Tuesday’s review of the budget by councillors Cllr Peter Clayton identified £2,000 of savings around a reduction in the budget for council furniture costs and also recommending that the budget for CCTV cameras remains at a standstill for the coming year.
