Town councillors have this week approved a 29p a week council tax hike in Burnham and Highbridge to pay for the cost of the Town Council taking over the maintenance of public toilets, dog litter bins and the town’s Princess Theatre from the district council
At their meeting on Monday night (February 7th), town councillors approved an overall precept of £525,497 – which, as first reported by Burnham-On-Sea.com here last month, will mean that the share of the council tax paid by a Band D property in Burnham and Highbridge which comes to the Town Council will rise by £15.10 to £76.09 a year, an increase of 29 pence per week.
Among the devolved services that the council is taking on during the financial downturn are The Princess at £70,000, public toilets at a cost of £38,000 and dog bins at £12,000.
The council has also set aside a further £50,000 to help finance other devolved services, plus a further £3,500 for a new illustrated history board to be located in Highbridge town centre. Burnham-On-Sea.com
Cllr Chris Williams told Monday’s meeting: “There will be some considerable disquiet about the amounts being put onto the precept, but it’s important that residents understand we have absolutely no alternative. The county and district councils cannot raise their precepts – it’s only town and parish councils that can do this at the moment.”
And Cllr Neville Jones added: “We have no alternative but to raise the precept if we wish services to continue. Maybe this will be the last year that we can do it.”
