DURING the full council meeting of Holsworthy Town Council on Wednesday, January 11, the proposed budget and precept for the coming financial year was discussed, agreed upon and ratified.

The town council will be levying a precept of £106,220 in the coming financial year to pay for ongoing running costs of the town council.

The precept is collected on the town council’s behalf by Torridge District Council and represents an increase of 36 pence per week for a person paying the full council tax charge on a ‘Band D’ property, compared to last year.

However, 76% of the properties in the town fall in the council tax ‘Band A’ and ‘C’ and will therefore be paying less than this.

The town council currently own and manage most of the recreational green spaces in the town, as well as the ‘War Memorial’ and four public footpaths. The town council’s budgeted expenditure is in excess of £153,000 for 2017/18, this is versus an estimated income of £47,000.

Councillors said they ‘felt that in the context of very real threats to some of the frontline services, which are maintained by the district and county councils in the town (e.g. toilets, counter service, grass cutting, highways maintenance etc.), it was imperative to levy a realistic precept.’

The local precept covers the upkeep of Stanhope Park, along with Badock and Rowland Gardens as well as the management of the weekly pannier market. During 2016/17 the council ought to source external funding as much as possible and have said they will ‘continue to seek further funding for projects that will further improve the facilities in the town’.

In setting the town council’s budget for the financial year ahead, the town council have tried to keep expenditure down to a minimum and explained they are endeavoring to make as many savings as they can within the town budget. Councillors agreed to continue to ‘weigh up the cost of any expenditure against the benefit to the community’ in the coming year.