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Are the council short-changing tax payers?

From the Milford Mercury, first published Thursday 13th Jan 2005.

Dear Sir

FOR the 2005/6 county council budget, the cabinet recommends demanding an additional £3.2m from all county council taxpayers, a 13% increase from 2004/5.

This is because of a 7.5% increase in the county's overall tax base following property revaluation, where an individual Band D tax increases by 5%.

No doubt the council plans to take full advantage of the property revaluation exercise to mask its take from the county's council taxpayers, in the hope that a 13% overall increase will not be noticed when the demand for a mere 5% increase drops on the mat. However even this increase is twice the level of inflation allowed in the council's budget.

The cabinet recommended budget for 2005/6 provides a £12.8m (15.7%) increase in gross expenditure. This is made up of £5.6m nationally due to inflation at 2.5% and £7.2m (13.2%) due to proposed increases in service levels. Direct income from fee charges and specific grants is set to increase by £4.1m (4.5%).

The 2005/6 net budget requirement of £161.8m, represents an increase of £8.7m (15.7%) over £153.1m for 2004/5. This will be met by a £5.5m (14.3%) increase in grant from the National Assembly and the extra £3.2m (13%) that the council plans to demand from its taxpayers.

For the current financial year the officers are forecasting an overall £6.3m overspend to be met by £2.2m from additional income. £2.7m additional use of reserves and an extra £1.4m from interest receipts. These details have never been clearly reported to our councillors who have been assured that the outurn budget requirement of £153.3m will be close to the original estimate of £153.1m (the £0.2m net difference being met from additional council tax receipts).

Before rubber-stamping the 2005/6 budget, is there any chance that Overview and Scrutiny Committees will even attempt to identify the extra services we can expect for the additional £7.2m? Given their financial management track record for the current financial year, things don't look too promising!

John Hudson Upper Swanswell Broad Haven

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