Morecambe Town Council has defended its decision to hike its Council Tax by 49.8 per cent - its biggest ever rise.
Luke Trevaskis, proper officer for Morecambe Town Council, said the whopping rise in the precept (proportion) was to "improve service delivery for the residents of Morecambe".
Morecambe Town Council raises funds through Council Tax to provide various services for the people of the town, including giving grants to organisations, putting on festivals and events, and helping with weeding and litter picking on pavements and streets.
The town council raised £282,245 from the precept in 2021/22, and previously the annual precept had never gone above £300,000 in the 13-year history of the council. Between 2013/2014 and 2020/2021, it had not risen above £200,000 per year.
In 2022/23, the 49.8 per cent rise means Morecambe Town Council will receive £425,250.45 from Council Tax.
Council Tax is divided between the town council, Lancashire County Council (2 per cent rise in 2022/23), Lancaster City Council (2.1 per cent rise), the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire (4.4 per cent rise), Adult and Social Care (2 per cent rise), and Lancashire Fire Authority (6.9 per cent rise).
Councillor Janice Hanson (pictured below), from the Labour party, asked Mr Trevaskis to explain the decision, during the Morecambe Town Council meeting on Thursday night.
She said: "As Council Tax bills are landing on doorsteps, quite a few people have said to me 'look how much Morecambe Town Council's Council Tax has gone up'. I think people are questioning it. People want to know why it's gone up so much."
Councillor Hanson had previously criticised the tax rise, saying: “Morecambe Town Council residents are seeing their household bills sky-rocket due to the rising costs of keeping warm and feeding their families. This is yet another blow to their budgets.”
Mr Trevaskis said: "The council is having to account for additional costs, such as by-election costs of £30,000 this year.
"We are accounting for additional staff.
"The council also voted to set a reserve each year of £20,000 for 'Morecambe Sparkle' to help bring the Illuminations back to Morecambe.
"We will be providing better service delivery for the residents of Morecambe.
"It's still less than Carnforth Town Council and the national average, and Morecambe has benefitted from a low precept, historically."
The town council has set its precept for a Band D property in 2022/23 at £44.11 per year, or 85p per week.
In a newsletter to be distributed in the town, the council said they believe "this payment represents good value for money when taking into consideration all the additional services provided for Morecambe by the town council, including support for art projects across the town, weeding and litter picking on pavements and back streets, hosting of regular events and festivals for residents, ownership of North Heysham Allotments, assisting local groups to apply for financial support through grants, working with volunteers and stakeholders to better understand the needs of the community, improvements to open spaces, management and operation of the Morecambe In Bloom competition, development of Morecambe's Neighbourhood Plan, support for Morecambe Sparkle, lobbying other authorities for better outcomes for Morecambe and acting as Morecambe's voice on many issues, funding staff resource to support the community with positions such as the Community Engagement Officer to ensure Morecambe is a strong and resilient community."
You can see what Morecambe Town Council will be spending taxpayers' money on in 2022/23 here.
At Thursday night's meeting, councillors then discussed whether they could save money on by-election costs by using a method called 'co-option' to fill vacant seats on the council.
Co-option would enable the town council to vote new councillors in themselves, but can only happen if candidates aren't put up for election by the required 10 members of the electorate.
Morecambe Town Council was formed in 2009 after a campaign by residents.
It is made up of 26 elected councillors and was created to provide a voice for Morecambe.
The town council is entirely separate to Lancaster City Council, and has limited powers and responsibilities in comparison.
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