Published: February 5, 2008
25 per cent council tax rise approved by Burnham-On-Sea councillors

Residents in Burnham-On-Sea have this week been warned to brace themselves for a 25 per cent hike in council tax rates.

Town councillors in Burnham approved the inflation-busting increase at a meeting on Monday evening (February 4th).

It means the Town Council's tax requirement for this year will be £51.65 per Band D property, a jump of £10 for every home compared to last year.

The Town Council claims that the rise is necessary in order to boost its cash reserves so that it can take over the running of various services should Sedgemoor District Council not be able to run them due to its £1.8m funding shortfall.

But the rise was not unanimously backed by the council. Burnham's deputy mayor, Cllr Neville Jones, voted against the tax increase, saying: "This is an astonishing jump for people to bear. Many people at this time are facing job losses and struggling to keep their mortgages going. Responsible authorities are keeping their tax increases below five per cent."

"We already have plenty in reserves. So is it really fair that when people are having a hard time, we should clobber them with this astonishing figure?"

But Cllr Eric Gill questioned the impact of the rise, saying £10 "is the cost of four packets of cigarettes over a year. It's a fairly small price to pay."

Cllr Janet Keen said that the budget represents "sound house-keeping." She added: "Due to the large number of variables here, we would be doing people a disservice not not to do this."

And Cllr Derrick Cooper also gave the increase his backing, saying: "The likely cuts to services by Sedgemoor District Council could hit the profile of the towns. When times are hard, we're here to help Burnham and Highbridge."

Cllr John Morgan added that the increase would need to be "carefully explained" to residents, but he also said: "The extra money will be used for the benefit of the town. It must be seen that we are using the funds pro-actively across our area."

Cllr Joe Leach gave his cautious backing to the increase: "No-one likes paying more tax, but people are happy to pay when they see council-run services being retained and added to, rather than reduced."

But Cllr Martin Lloyd sounded a warning that the £10 increase would hit some Burnham and Highbridge pensioners hard. "It's quite a lot for some of them on meagre pensions. We definitely need to tell them what the money is going to be spent on."

The point was agreed by Cllr Mike Mansfield, who said: "Pensioners will get nowhere near a 25 per cent pension increase. Many are struggling as it is. I certainly feel we should not put up the council tax so much."

The Town Council's Policy and Finance Committee had proposed a total precept requirement of over £301,952 and this was endorsed by the full town council.

Fourteen councillors voted in favour of the rise, while one was against and two abstained.

The rise equates to an increase of £10 per year per household that equates to 19p per week.

The increase will be less for residents in A, B and C properties and slightly higher for people living in larger properties.

The Town Council considers that this increase will give it funding to back on-going discussions with the District Council regarding services, such as Town Centre/Events Management, that it may feel necessary to take on, in partnership with others. Members feel that it is important to the vitality of our towns to retain these services, as well as looking at ways in which the Town Council can be more proactive in the future

It was also agreed that the Town Council would need to keep residents informed on the progress of the discussions with the District Council, with regular updates as to how this additional funding will be spent via the Town Council's newsletter and its website.