Shropshire Star

Wem Town Council defends tax bill rise

Wem Town Council has defended plans to increase the price of its council tax bill for the next financial year.

Published

Residents in an average Band D property in the town will have to pay an extra 54 pence per year for their town council portion of their annual council tax bill, after councillors agreed a rise.

But members of Wem Town Council say the plans have been put in place to protect services from ongoing cuts from Shropshire Council and central government.

Susan Thornhill, assistant town clerk, said the move had been agreed at a special meeting last Thursday when councillors discussed the annual budget for the year 2016-17 beginning in April.

She said: "The past few years of budget cuts has meant that Shropshire Council has passed down an increasing number of services and facilities to town and parish councils to run with little prior warning or financial support.

"In the recent past the town council has taken over the public toilets in the town centre as well as the CCTV system. It is anticipated the new financial year will see even more cuts to services previously run by Shropshire Council.

"The slight increase in the precept will enable the town council to be prepared to provide support to groups who may be looking to take over the running of services and seek the views of the community so that extra expenditure can be targeted at the most important areas."

At the meeting, members agreed the council will ensure that money raised from the precept is "redistributed locally" to support groups, facilities and events in the town including, the Town Hall, the youth club, Wem Christmas Lights and North Shropshire Wheelers.

Mayor John Murray said: "The budget proposals represent our commitment to protecting the town's essential services for residents and our focus now will be to continue to ensure all services are run as efficiently as possible."

Mrs Thornhill added the plans had come after bids to "improve efficiency and reduce costs where necessary" and that the precept would increase by a total of £1,002.

She added that some services in the town have been identified as needing "additional investment".

Councillors agreed that the town's street lighting provision is in need of upgrading as some of the lighting stock is old and not energy efficient.

Meanwhile, the council's grants to Wem Swimming and Lifestyle Centre have been reduced after the success of the group running the pool.

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