A swimming platform, funds for a town wish list and a young person’s mental health scheme are among the projects that will be funded by Sidmouth Town Council (STC) this year.
The authority has agreed to increase its precept – its share of the council tax bill – by four per cent. This means a typical Band D property will pay £72.36 to the town council in the next financial year, starting in April - an increase of £2.82 on 2018/2019.
Councillor Paul Wright who is responsible for finance presented the proposed estimates at a meeting on Monday.
Sidmouth councillors agree to the rise, which is just over the rate of inflation - 2.44 per cent. The total budget is up from £488,467 last year to £509,503 this year.
As part of the budget STC agreed to contribute £5,000 to a swimming platform for sea swimmers in the summer.
An additional £10,000 pot of cash has been set aside for Community Actions projects in the Sid Valley Neighbourhood Plan - a wish list of things residents said they wanted to see in the town. The budget for Youth Service Support was increased by £10,000 to support a young person’s mental health scheme and the town band will be given £5,000 to help with its Brass Academy scheme.
The budget for Sidmouth Folk Festival was increased to £32,000 for 2019/20 – from £30,000 – with a £1,000 increase per annum in the following four years to £35,000 in 2023/24.
An extra £1,000 will be given to Sidmouth in Bloom for it to continue its work and the budget for the Hopper Bus will be set back to £8,000 this year, down after a cash injection of £10,000 last year. The budget for the air display remains the same.
STC’s precept will be added to the council tax demands from the district and county councils to fund their services, like police and rubbish collections. East Devon District Council is proposing to increase its share of the bill for a typical band D property by 3.7 per cent or £5 a year. It will formally set the budget on February 27. Devon County Council is set to increase its budget by £14.4million to a total of £493million - a three per cent rise. Members will also decide the final figure and what residents will have to pay next month.
Devon and Cornwall Police has launched a consultation to ask whether people would be willing to pay another 41p to pay for an extra 85 police officers by the end of 2020.
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