Tax payers may avoid £60 fee

Oswestry's council tax payers look likely to get a bonus this year with the announcement of a possible standstill in the borough's portion of their bills.

It could mean council tax payers will now avoid having to stump up a rise of what would have been about £60 for the year.

The no-rise recommendation from the council cabinet is thanks to the impending move to a unitary authority, which will bring to an end the role of the authority.

Oswestry's finance chief, Mark Taylor, has recommended the council use the reserves it has always had as a safety net to fund the increase in its budget for the coming year.

His suggestion has been taken on board by the council's cabinet and will now go on as a recommendation to the full council.

A report from Mr Taylor on the medium-term financial plan for the council says the budget for 2008/09 is likely to be £5,885,500 which already includes savings of £180,000. Despite the savings there is still a budget gap of £81,000 - equal to a 3.1 per cent increase in the council tax for the borough.

Normally any council should have savings that it can call on in an emergency. But Mr Taylor says that with the assumption that Shropshire is soon to move to be governed by a unitary authority, the council would be justified in using reserves to address the budget gap.

"The use of reserves to support the general fund revenue budget is not a decision that this council can take in isolation," he said.

"The draft guidance for setting up the new unitary authority requires interim board approval to be sought in such circumstances."

The borough is responsible only for a small portion of the overall council tax bill with the majority set by Shropshire County Council.