SPENDING on floral displays is to be pegged back to ensure residents in a dale village are not asked for any extra tax to pay for their parish council.
Gainford Parish Council met last week to discuss its budget and set its precept – the amount villagers are charged via their council tax to fund the group’s activities – for 2021-22.
Parish council chairwoman Cllr Lisa Johnstone said given the present difficulties facing residents as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, now was not the time to increase the precept.
In presenting the precept report, parish council clerk Martin Clark had offered to forego an annual pay rise to ensure the budget remained the same.
The 2.75 per cent increase was set following national guidelines and Cllr Joe Coomer said Mr Clark had no choice in the matter but to take the rise, which would add £213 to the precept.
Mr Clark pointed out that the parish council had attempted to set a neutral budget for the past three or four years. The meeting was told one option was to cover the extra cost from its reserves.
However, Cllr Richard Roff said he was against the principle of “fishing from reserves”.
Cllr Mark Charge said attempting to keep the precept the same year after year could backfire on the parish council.
“If we stand still and we don't raise it, that’s when it becomes a problem,” he said.
Cllr Johnstone responded: “Now is not the time.”
While supporting a neutral budget for 2021-22, Cllr Simon Platten suggested reviewing all areas of the council’s spending.
“We don’t want to sleepwalk into a big jump next year,” he said. Having decided not to raid the reserves, members discussed where money could be saved.
Members resisted any cut to the youth and sports budget, agreeing that if the Covid-19 restrictions were to continue for a number of months this would be one area vital to supporting villagers’ mental wellbeing. Councillors agreed to cut £200 from the budget for floral displays, pegging it back to £2,800 for 2021-22. A further £20 was removed from the budget for “sundries”.
As a result, Gainford Parish Council agreed a precept of £37,065 which equates to a £73.63 for a band D property, a reduction of 14p on this year's bill.
