Agenda item

The Executive noted that, whilst it was for the Council to decide upon the level of Council Tax set, the Executive could make a recommendation.

The budget had been prepared on the assumption that Council Tax would be increased by 2.97% being just under the maximum permitted without requiring a referendum.

The Net Cost of Services for 2018/19 had increased compared to last year.  This was due in part to one off items such as grounds maintenance funded from commuted sums and the implementation of the Waste Contract funded from reserves. However there had also been increases in payroll and contract costs due to the high level of inflation.

However the Council was still able to achieve a balanced budget due to higher income from Council Tax and Business Rates and an increase in income from the Council’s property investments.

Wages and salaries had increased this year due to not only investment in staffing as the Council moved in to new areas, but also due to pressures driven by inflation on wages costs and recruitment. An amount had also been included within the budget for an annual pay increase.

Members received a summary of the budget.  It was noted that a number of fees and charges had been increased and approved in accordance with financial regulations. These changes had been reflected within the proposed budget.

The Government had announced that they would approve an increase in planning fees in 2018/19, if not sooner, but this had not been reflected in the budget.

2018/19 marked the 3rd year of the 4 year local Government Settlement announced in 2015.  Based on past experience it was likely that the settlement for 2018/19 would be in line with this Settlement and would mean that the Council would receive nothing in 2018/19.

The Council was due to have to pay £933k of “Negative Tariff” back to the Government in 2019/20.  However the matter of a “Negative Tariff” had been recognised as an issue by the Minister and would be looked at in the coming year.  The Government had also announced a technical consultation “Fair Funding” which might impact future Council funding as it sought to redistribute funding across the country.

The provisional figures announced on 19 December 2017 had been used in this budget. These were expected to be confirmed shortly. 

The Government had consulted again during the year on making further changes to the New Homes Bonus (NHB). This had included increasing the “floor”, for which no bonus was paid and further restricting payments on houses granted on appeal or without a local plan. The Government announced that, in order to provide certainty, no changes would be made for 2018/19. However the changes already made, such as reducing payments from 6 to 4 years and the 0.4% floor, was making NHB a less attractive incentive for housing delivery.

The Executive was advised that expenses totalling £816k were being charged directly to reserves.  The General Fund was estimated to be at least £2m at the end of 2018/19 if the budget was delivered as proposed.

RECOMMENDED to Council that

(i)          the 2018/19 General Fund Revenue Budget of £11,058,933 as set out in Annex A to the agenda report, be approved; and

(ii)        the support grant for parishes to compensate them for the effects of the local council tax support scheme be unchanged for 2018/19 compared to 2017/18.

RESOLVED to note that

(iii)      the budget contains £816,390 chargeable to reserves as per paragraph 10 of the agenda report;

(iv)      a minimum revenue provision of £1.353m was required to repay debt;

(v)        there was no Revenue Support Grant from Government to support services;

(vi)      £200,000 for a pay increase had been included within the budget;

(vii)    the provisional NNDR baseline of £1,508,666 and the final settlement would be reported to Council at its meeting on 21^st February 2018;

(viii)   that the Council is a member of the Surrey Business Rates pilot consisting of Surrey County Council and all Surrey Districts;

(ix)      that a full report, setting out Council Tax proposals for 2018/19 would be presented to Council on 21^st February 2018;

(x)        that further savings and income generation through investment would be required as a result of anticipated reductions in Government funding and funding the capital programme in the future; and

(xi)      that the increase in the tax base from new housing delivered an extra £47,000 a year in Council Tax.