Budget increase of nearly £23,000 approved by Alnwick Town Council

Alnwick Town Council has approved a budget increase of over £22,000 for the coming financial year.
Alnwick town centre.Alnwick town centre.
Alnwick town centre.

Members unanimously agreed to set the budget for 2020/21 at £329,290 – an increase of £22,705.

As a result, the town council precept for a Band D dwelling will increase to £116.40, which equates to an annual increase of £6.49 (12p per week) and is a 5.91% increase.

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Clerk Peter Hately said: “The finance and policy committee decided, at its last meeting, not to use reserves for next year’s budget so there will be an increase of £22,705 on the previous year.”

Responding to a question from Coun Peter Broom about the impact of new housing, Mr Hately said: “The tax base went up by nearly 40 this year. I think it went up by about 60 the previous year so that’s 100 Band D dwellings that are being put on the tax base so it is going up. It’s about £6,000 additional tax revenue that would come in based on those houses.”

The finance and policy committee has set a budget of £189,190, the recreation and amenities committee has set a budget of £114,850 and the cemetery committee has set a budget of £25,250.

Notable additions include £10,000 allocated to the Alnwick Partnership by the finance and policy committee to facilitate the delivery of Community Action Proposals (CAPS).

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The grants budget has ben increased by £5,000 with a larger contribution to Alnwick Playhouse, with £2,000 of it ring-fenced for environmental projects.

An increase of £3,650 has been made to the recreation and amenities budget, while £2,000 has been added to the baseline for the bike track.

The cemetery committee budget includes the addition of funding for an apprentice.

The new Alnwick Band D town council precept is expected to be around, or slightly higher than the Northumberland town council average.

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By comparison, Newbiggin’s precept for 2019/20 was the highest in Northumberland at £175.06 for a Band D dwelling, with Choppington at £153.52, Blyth at £125.15, Seaton Valley at £118.73, Morpeth at £117.96, Amble at £116.45, Cramlington at £107.70, Ashington at £104.85, Berwick at £77.09, Hexham at £75.02 and Ponteland at £73.87.