Having not increased the Council Tax for the past five and a half years, Wilmslow Town Council has agreed to increase the precept for a Band D property from £21.45 to £27.45 for the year from April 1st 2017 - which represents an increase of £6 per year.
Wilmslow Town Council has agreed a total budget of £309,365 for the next financial year.
Councillor David Pincombe said "This is a figure that we believe is necessary to manage the Council's business over the next year to retain a reserve figure that is consistent with the running of Wilmslow Town Council.
"This is an increase of £70,000 from last year's base figure and requires the Band D rate to move from £21.45 to £27.45. I also wish to draw your attention to the reserve figures at the end of the papers and you'll note if there is not an increase in the precept and our spend continues in or around the same level as current then our reserves will continue to diminish, which for a progressive council is not good house keeping. This in an essence could render us incapable of bringing along new projects after a couple of years.
"In essence there are only two budget heads which we can consider for change and these are special projects and grants. Special projects are what is implied, we do not know what will materialise in the next 12 months, and I believe this figure should be safeguarded.
"Grants are the lifeblood of many organisations and as other sources of income dry off it is probable that we may receive more requests for assistance over the next year from old and new organisations."
This will be the first increase in the precept since Wilmslow Town Council was formed five and a half years ago.
Councillor Gary Barton said "It is also worthwhile noting that when the Town Council was founded we opted for a precept that was considerably lower than that which had been recommended to us. I think this is still below the level that is recommended for a Town Council of this size so I think the efforts that this Town Council has made in reducing costs, for things like the Christmas event, shows that we do take this decision very heavily."
He added "In this instance what I think we are doing is adjusting from a false situation, because in the early years we have a significant surplus because the very early Council was not in a position to spend the income it had so we've been living off those reserves but we need those reserves for the construction of the toilets on the Carrs.
"As we move forward as an established Council that's achieving things, the Council will take on more responsibilities such as the allotments, that it's right that we consider a budget that actually meets the needs going forward as we cannot live on purely draining reserves."
Speaking about the 50p per month increase, Councillor Martin Watkins, Chairman of Wilmslow Town Council, said "This rate when compared with other town council's in Cheshire East in the current year continues to represent excellent value for money being 59% less than Alderley Edge, 53% less than Bollington, 63% less than Alsager, 28% less than Handforth, 66% less than Congleton, 63% less than Holmes Chapel, 28% less than Macclesfield, 37% less than Knutsford, 60% less than Poynton and 66% less than Sandbach."
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It is worth pointing out that the Town Council does allow free entry to our own events - Cinema on the Carrs and Party on the Carrs. If you assume an entry fee of £7.50 for an adult and £5.00 per child a family of four would nearly recover the entire annual precept by attending just one of them. The Town Council has contributed to the funding of the Wilmslow Show in the past, but it is not our event, and future funding is not a given. We review all grants on their individual merits each year.
KEITH CHAPMAN, Town Councillor, Wilmslow East