Knighton Town Council has run through almost all of the available cashflow and will just about make it through the year.

Knighton Town Council has run through almost all of the available cashflow this year and will just about make it through the year.

They will have to try and build up reserves and add a contingency fund which is likely to hike up the precept for 2025.

Members were told the worrying news at a recent town council meeting.

Town clerk Lorian Craggs Alferoff said; “The End of Year projections show the council running through almost all of the available cashflow this year, even including the reserves and recycling fund.

“The finance committee discussed the options and concluded the council will therefore need to spend the recycling fund and much of the reserves.

“The council will just about make it through the year, but needs to be thinking very hard about saving.”

She said some of the biggest costs are toilets and staff costs, for reasons including leaks and overtime, but the council has also gone over in a number of other places due to what the Clerk suspects to be a lack of budget monitoring and spending control.

The personnel committee will meet imminently and discuss staff costs both for the remainder of this year and for next year’s budget. 

The finance committee will also meet, to make a plan for how to redistribute funds into the budget for the rest of the year, as well as in order to work some more on the budget.

For the budget, the Clerk recommended developing a clear vision for what the Council will be doing next year. 

She said: “If the Council hasn’t budgeted for it, they won’t be able to do it, unless it’s unavoidable, which is why I recommend building contingencies into the budget.”

The Clerk has begun a five year review of previous budgets, as well a breakdown of costs which can be predicted. 

A review of the council’s assets will take place so that members will know what might need repairing or replacing, and they will also have to anticipate building up reserves and adding a contingency fund, which will hike up the precept.

Knighton Mayor Councillor Chris Branford proposed spending the reserves and recycling fund as needed to get through the financial year, and to delegate the Finance Committee to determine a new budget covering costs for the rest of the year, which will be approved by Full Council. It was seconded by Councillor Tina Sharp and the motion was approved unanimously.