During its annual budget setting process Bishop Auckland Town Council have made a commitment to greater community support for 2024-25, with increased budgets for community support, events and allotments.
The amount of Council Tax residents of Bishop Auckland Town Council will pay will increase for 2024-25 in Bishop Auckland Parish after the Town Council agreed an increase. This equates to an increase of £2.09 per month or 48pence per (£0.48p) per week for a property in Council Tax Band A. The overall council budget will increase by £164,117 which includes the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme Grant from Durham County Council.
The Chair of the Finance Committee Cllr. David Wilson, said: “The Council continues to operate in some of the of the most difficult times for our residents, and as we now move into 2024-25 these challenging times are growing, and whilst the Council do not wish to add to anyone’s burden the Council need to be able to support the residents in the town. The Council have remained committed over the past few years to keeping increases as low as possible, however the Council Tax level in Bishop Auckland remains considerably lower in comparison to neighbouring parishes, and those of a similar size and offering similar services.”
“Agreeing the increase, was not an easy decision for the council to take, it ensued lots of debate, initially it was hoped that the increase could be smaller however this would mean that we are not able to support the organisations, events and activities which are all key in supporting the Town of Bishop Auckland.”
The increase in council tax will enable:
- Increase in allotments budget(1.) by 272% (increase of £34,998) available for improvements to Allotment services ran by the Council. This is to implement needed repairs and make improvements to allotment provision.
- Increase in Community Support by 138% (£27,000), which includes a 50% increase (£5,000 increase) in amount of funding available via the Council’s Community Fund(2.), 433% increase (£13,000 increase) in core funding to key community organisations, plus £13,000 investment 655% increase for School Holiday support, 108% increase (£2,600) for floral displays and green improvements, and includes the retention of the skate park lighting.
- increase in Event budgets by 104% (£40,300) to support a programme of community-based ward and in year events such as Halloween, as well as the Heritage Fair, Remembrance Sunday Parade and increased investment into the Christmas activity.
Mayor of Bishop Auckland Cllr. Sam Zair said: “Whilst the Council agree that that it is never ideal to increase taxes, we feel that after freezing Council Tax or having very small increases in the past this couldn’t continue, as it was not financially viable to continually take from reserves to balance the books and move forward. The previous lack of increases has left us behind our peers, and in order to support our residents and the town we needed to make the hard decision to increase the precept level.”
“As promised the Council has continued to support the town through investments in our services, such as allotments, increased community support through outreach such as community grants, support of Cost of Living Crisis outreach, and through delivery of events, such as the Food Festival, Heritage Fair and of Christmas Town all of which drives footfall into our town.”
“The additional budget will enable us to have an enhanced community support programme to provide some of our key organisations with core funding, improvements can be made to our allotment provision where much needed maintenance is needed, and the enhanced event programme means we can encourage more footfall into the town, which supports the businesses and wider health of the town.”
It was recorded that Bishop Auckland Town Council Precept for the forthcoming year 2024-25 will be £407,501, which equates to a payment of £61.49 per year for a Band A property. The Council Tax for Bishop Auckland Town Council is collected by Durham County Council.
(1.) Budget also includes income from Allotment Rent, Maintenance and Water Charge.
(2.) Community Fund is a grant application process whereby groups can apply for funding.
