St Ives Town Council budget reveals that St Ives residents will pay less than expected for Council Tax

St Ives residents will pay less than expected for the town council’s portion of Council Tax.

Councillors agreed in December to investigate further saving options after provisionally setting the 2014/15 budget, which would have meant an increase of about £5 – or 4.5 per cent – on its bill.

Last Wednesday, the council voted 8-7 to use £10,000 from reserves to cut its precept rise to less than three per cent, meaning Band D ­residents will pay £3.34 more a year.

The council-funded Bridge ­magazine was identified as an area where savings could be made but Councillor Ian Jackson, part of the Bridge Working Party, said savings through lower paginations would be “negligible”.

Despite identifying £20,000 of savings, the council has had to increase the precept to cover £46,000 lost from the Council Tax Support Grant – funding cut through changes to the welfare system last year.

Cllr Debbie Townsend proposed taking £10,000 from reserves to reduce the precept to £651,833.

She said: “At the moment, our residents are struggling and I feel we should help our residents.

“Taking £10,000 from reserves would take it below three per cent which would be helpful to the ­residents of this town.”

The motion was passed by eight votes to seven.