Patchway Town Council are delighted to announce, to all of their residents, that there will be a reduction the Local Council Tax Precept you pay to South Gloucestershire Council as part of your overall Council Tax bill from April 2024.
At the meeting of Patchway Town Council on Tuesday 16th January 2024, it was unanimously agreed to set the Precept for the 2024/2025 financial year at £501,638.
The Precept is the money that Town and Parish Councils can raise to spend within the local area. The money is collected as part of your Council Tax Bill and we outline below how your money will be used in the forthcoming year.
This is a reduction of £38,633 on the Precept for the 2023/2024 financial year (£540,271) and comes as a result of prudent financial management by your local Town Council. This is equal to a 7% reduction in the budget.
The Local Council Tax Base for Patchway has decreased from 2333 to 2282, which has made it exceptionally more difficult this year for the Town Council as they have had effectively less tax bases to set their budget upon.
Based on a Council Tax Band D average, residents will now be paying £219.82 per year, which is £11.76 (5%) cheaper than the charge in 2023/2024 financial year.
In summary, amidst a Cost of Living Crisis, the rising costs of energy and fuel and a reduction in the Local Council Tax Base, your Local Town Council has managed to find savings to ease the burden on their residents. This, coupled with a strategic five-year budget plan, will hopefully pave the way for more savings in the future years ahead.
Upon the agreement of the budget, Mayor of Patchway Cllr Dayley Lawrence stated that ‘I am thrilled to be able to deliver a real and meaningful saving to the people of Patchway. Councillors and Officers have worked extremely hard on the budget this year, a year in which we knew there would be a lot of financial uncertainties. I am pleased that we have been able to retain all of current services whilst delivering new projects for our residents as requested through our Strategic Plan consultation. I am also very pleased that Patchway Town Council have found a way to reduce our costs by over £38,000 for the next year delivering a real saving for our residents. Although the overall Council Tax bill may increase, I hope residents can find some comfort in the fact that their Town Council are doing everything they can to reduce costs within our Council Tax Precept charge’.
Chairman of Patchway Town Council’s Finance Committee and South Gloucestershire Councillor for the Charlton and Cribbs Ward, Cllr Sam Scott added, ‘I am delighted that we have been able to offer a real saving for our residents this year within our Precept. I am pleased that we have maintained funding for our Youth Development budget as well as our Community Grant Funding budget. Last year saw the conclusion of all of our major infrastructure projects in Patchway and now we are under a period of maintaining what we currently have to a very high standard.
Patchway Town Council has a committed team of staff and we are pleased to still be a ‘Real Living Wage Employer’, which has been recognised nationally. Patchway Town Council are also a ‘Quality Gold’ accredited Council, the highest accolade that any Town Council can achieve and our budget saving is a testament to the prudent administration of the Town Council’.
The full budget detail plus a budget summary can be seen at www.patchwaytowncouncil.gov.uk/finance
The highlights of the budget can be seen in the infographic below
