Council Funds

At a recent meeting in the town, the bank balance of the Council was highlighted. This, and the details, have always been publically available and published in our newsletter; however few seemed to have seen it and many expressed surprise at the amount- £200k. There were calls to spend it all immediately on something for the community- if only we could! Space doesn’t allow us to print all the details but every penny is accounted for. We are responsible for many things in the town such as the smaller items of seats, litter bins, bus shelters, floral displays, a flagpole, noticeboards and larger things such as the War Memorials, the Clock Tower, the 2 Cemeteries and the 2 Allotment sites. We have equipment and buildings to maintain and replace, insurances to pay, offices to rent, staff to pay and as a responsible employer all the associated costs involved in health and safety etc. We also support community organisations through grants and donations and put money aside to go towards larger projects such as the Paddlers. We have always been a forward looking Council who try to budget wisely- we could very, very easily spend a lot more every year on the town but that would mean asking each household for more. At the moment the average household amount paid is around £6 a month- would you be prepared to pay more if the extra all went towards town improvements?