North Devon council tax to rise

Budget is robust but more commercial projects will be needed

North Devon Council’s element of council tax is going up by three per cent from April.

It means an average household will pay an extra £6.29 for the district council’s services.

The authority has produced a balanced budget but is warning of a £2.8 million deficit by 2027.

Finance chiefs say a reduction of nearly £300,000 in government grant income means it needs to become more entrepreneurial.

The increase in employers’ national insurance contributions will cost an unexpected £450,000, with just 20 per cent of that reimbursed by the government.

Director of resources Jon Triggs told a full council meeting that the £18 million budget for day-to-day costs is “robust” and a predicted half a million pound budget gap had been closed.

Officers had to use £160,000 from a £600,000 reserve as well as making savings to do this.

It has left an “adequate” level of reserves.

Council tax makes up half of the council’s budget and in the next financial year it will receive £350,000 from an extra tax on second homes.

The increase of £6.29 to average Band D households will be added to the rest of the council tax which includes the amount set by county and parish councils, police and fire services.

Green Lanes shopping centre in Barnstaple, which the council bought in 2021, has brought in nearly £1 million over three years and has increased footfall in the town.

More commercial projects would need to be explored to boost revenue.

The charge for garden waste collection will be frozen at £60, there will be an increase in fees and charges of three per cent, and the council has allowed a three per cent increase in salary costs.

Half of the £36 million capital programme will come from external funding, with the largest scheme being the revamp of the Brynsworthy Environment Centre and waste management facility.

A new grant of £1 million from the government to help with the costs of extra waste management responsibilities will mitigate some of the expense of that project.

The council is dishing out extra cash this year from a community lottery for good causes and has decided that Citizens Advice will receive an extra £6,000, North Devon Voluntary Services £2,300 and Age Concern £700 for the shop mobility scheme.

North Devon Records Office will receive £3,000.