next Town Council meeting to consider the budget and set the precept for thew next Year.

 aper to the councillors setting out three options Option1 is the only acceptable one as it propses a standstill precept although because of the increase in property numbers and values there will be rise in the amount of local (precept) tax raised.
option2 is a slightly greater precept proposal but again is not acceptable in the financial climate which exists in the town and country in general Option 3 is an outlandish proposal to lift the precept by a very large amount in order to bring the purchasing power back to where it was some time ago.
There is no supporting paperwork which shows any justification for the budget headings in the proposals which indicates a view that money is being raised for the sake of it and with a view to satisfy the idea that many councillors have ("If we raise the precept we can do more")
But what more? Surely the people must be asked what they want rather than to be told what they are going to have(get)
I made  a freedom of information request to get a breakdown of the budget proposals but it was refused because the clerk said that the document doesn't exist!Apparently this is not true as is explained in the minutes of the last Council meeting because at the time that the information was requested the paper was still in draft form and having approved the budget it is now a definative document which is so I am told is available to be seen by the public!

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