Taunton Town Council shares details of 2024/25 budget

Taunton Town Council’s precept request will be £5,904,630 which equates to an increase of £3.65 per week for a Band D household.

75 per cent of households in Taunton will pay less than this, as they are Bands A-C, discounts are also available for single occupancy and other forms of Council Tax Support.

Leader of Taunton Town Council, Cllr Tom Deakin (Image: Contributed)

Councillor Tom Deakin, leader of Taunton Town Council, said: “After the council was created, it quickly became clear to us that the budget set for the year was inadequate and needed to be increased to bring us into line with neighbouring town councils.

“As town councillors we are in a unique position, money raised in Taunton stays in Taunton.

“We are able to be responsive to the needs of our residents and deliver services at the closest possible level.

“Since we were elected in May 2023, the poor standard of public conveniences in the town has been at the top of the list of complaints from our residents.

“We conducted a survey at the end of last year the results of which backed this up. This budget will enable us to tackle this important issue.

“As a council, we made the difficult decision to implement further increases to ensure that important assets and services are not lost as a result of the financial difficulties that Somerset Council, in common with many other local authorities, find themselves in.

“I am confident that residents will see value for money from this budget and that it gives us the foundation and the opportunity to drive Taunton forward and ensure we are a County Town to be proud of.”

Donna Smith, town clerk, said “We are in regular contact with town councils across Somerset.

“Most report having to make difficult decisions to increase their budgets, particularly in light of the situation at Somerset Council.

“The risk of standing still on a programme of maintenance and improvement or potentially losing crucial services forever would have a huge negative impact on our residents in the longer term.

“As a town council, we strive to be 100 per cent transparent, we account for and publish details of every penny we spend and seek and welcome engagement from our residents on everything we do.”

The approved budget includes:

Service, Growth, and Improvement

£1,532,000, to improve existing assets, take on larger projects, and includes funding for contingency in response to the announcement by Somerset Council that a number of assets and services will be devolved to town and parish councils.

Central Services

£1,359,939, for staffing, office costs, insurance, and legal fees.

Parks and Open Spaces £1,143,169, for the ongoing maintenance of our 12 parks and open spaces, pavilions, updating signage, improving benches, bins, etc, and for Crime Reduction Initiatives.

Public Conveniences

£454,814 for the ongoing cleaning and maintenance of the seven public conveniences around the town and for planned upgrades to these facilities.

Democratic and Civic Costs

£144,490 for the cost of running elections, civic events like Remembrance, and for the Mayoralty.

Allotments

£9068 to necessary maintenance of our eight allotments.

Grants and Sponsorship

£150,000 for Community Grants.

Town Centre Events and Decoration

£164,000 for things like Christmas lighting, provision of a pop-up shop, and for town centre floral decoration.

Reserves

£450,000 to be put aside into a general reserve. A council this size is expected to have two/three months of net revenue expenditure in general reserve.

Amenities and General Maintenance

£497,050 including costs for vehicles, renting a depot for our vehicles, tools, equipment etc.

Full details and a breakdown are available on the council's website.