Morecambe Town Council proposes tax cut but no full refund of controversial £1m Frontierland hike

Morecambe Town Council has proposed to cut its share of Council Tax - but residents will not receive a full rebate from a controversial Frontierland fund.

The town council has published its proposed 2024/25 budget, which suggests a 33 per cent reduction in its Council tax precept compared to last year, when Morecambe taxpayers saw a massive increase on their bills.

Then, residents saw the town council's share of Council tax rise by an unprecedented 231 per cent, because the council raised £1m to set up a 'Community Action Fund' hoping to push forward its own plans to redevelop the Frontierland site in Morecambe.

This decision caused massive controversy, was dubbed 'the Frontierland tax', and was even brought up in Parliament by Morecambe MP David Morris.

Pictured below, an aerial view of the Frontierland site.

But then the town council made a shock U-turn in July 2023, deciding to withdraw its expression of interest on the eyesore former Wild West theme park, but leaving the £1m fund still in its coffers.

A leading town councillor said at the time, that the council would "do its best" to recompense Morecambe taxpayers for the Council tax hike.

Read more: Morecambe Town Council makes bombshell U-turn on Frontierland plan - Beyond Radio

But the new budget proposals for 2024/25 fall short of repaying the full amount of last year's rise, instead suggesting that the Morecambe Town Council total precept should be more than double that of two years ago.

A town council spokesperson said: "Now that Morecambe Town Council is delivering such a significant service for the town, particularly via the work of the Town Rangers, it is more important that general reserves are maintained at the level required to safeguard that (and other) services."

MTC COUNCIL TAX PRECEPT 2024/25

The proposed total Morecambe Town Council precept for 2024/25 would be £951,384.33.

Last year the precept was £431,853.66 - plus the one million pounds - so £1,431,853.66 was raised from Morecambe taxpayers for the town council 

In 2022/23, it was £425,250.45.

The annual precept for individual households is proposed to be set in 2024/25 at £97.56 for a Band D property, a reduction of £48.69 from 2023/24.

This is more than double the £44.11 charged in 2022/23.

For 2024/25, the proposed Morecambe Town Council tax for the different property bands is:

Band A - £65.37

Band B - £76.10

Band C - £86.83

Band D - £97.56

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 history of the council. Between 2013/2014 and 2020/2021, it had not risen above £200,000 per year.

Under the new proposals, the £1m Community Action Fund would be shifted into council reserves, with £150,000 of it used towards cutting the Council tax precept.

THE FRONTIERLAND TAX

Morecambe Town Council raised an extra £1m from Council tax in 2023/24, on top of its regular precept.

This was to create a 'Community Action Fund' reserve to support the future use of the Frontierland site.

Owner Lancaster City Council was looking for ideas to develop the Marine Road West site, and the town council put forward its own plans on behalf of the people of Morecambe, wanting to use the £1m to leverage more funding in future.

But opponents of the plan said this was "double taxation" as the city council owned the land.

The U-turn on Frontierland was mainly due to the Morecambe Bay Independents (MBIs), who had opposed the tax rise, becoming the majority group on the town council after the local elections in May.

Prior to the elections, the Liberal Democrats had the largest group on the council but there was no overall control.

Councillor Geoff Knight of the MBIs (pictured below) told Beyond Radio in July 2023: "It's wrong that Morecambe Town Council use council taxpayers' money again to actually repurpose land on that site because we already own it.

"We have made enquiries about the reuse of the £1m that was raised on the Morecambe Town Council precept.

"It's quite clear we need legal advice before we reallocate that money.

"The first question I asked was, can that money be refunded to council taxpayers?

"The advice I've had from Lancaster City Council is there is no mechanism for refunding that money and that an alternative mechanism has to be sought.

"So we'll take legal advice on that so we don't end up in a Crinkley Bottom scenario.

"We will have a look at what we can do with that £1m and if there is any way we can reimburse that to the council taxpayers, we will certainly do our best to return that money."

Beyond Radio contacted Councillor Knight for comment, following the publication of the new budget proposals.

He said: "In May ‘23, the MBIs inherited unrealistic ambitions set by the previous administration. 

"Our first task was to withdraw MTC’s Expression of Interest in the former Frontierland site and bring the council back onto a more stable financial footing to avoid anomalous year-on-year fluctuations in the precept.

"We have also been looking at ways of returning to the council taxpayer the monies obtained last year. As no financial mechanism exists to do this, we have had to seek legal advice to examine other options. 

"It became transparent that the previous administration had failed last year to set a realistic precept to cover this year’s expenditure budget (i.e. the MTC 2023/24 precept minus the Frontierland Community Fund).

"We have therefore been advised that it would not be financially prudent to return all the monies this year as this would have serious repercussions on the following year-on-year precepts. 

"By setting a more realistic expenditure budget this year, we will be able to deliver all the services set by the previous administration. Furthermore, by subsidising it with £150,000 of the monies raised last year, we can return some of the monies held in reserves to the council taxpayer.

"The remaining £850,000 raised last year is safely stored in general reserves and we have absolutely no intention of squandering it on any vanity projects. We will review the situation year-on-year and hopefully do something similar to ease the burden on council taxpayers in following years."

MORECAMBE TOWN COUNCIL STATEMENT ON ITS 2024/5 BUDGET

"Morecambe Town Council is confident it can deliver a balanced budget whilst providing a year-on-year saving for its residents through a reduction in the council’s precept of £48.69 (33%), rolling back 47.7% of last year’s increase," said a statement published on the town council website.

"Morecambe Town Council has gone through a rapid period of growth over the last three years, with annual precept increases required to reflect this.

"These would have been less significant if there had been reasonable annual increments applied during the past 14 years. 

"This also reduced the council’s ability to build an adequate reserve, as the precept was primarily required to resource the council’s annual expenditure.  

"During this period the council’s role was primarily a reactive one, responsible for distribution of community grants and management of the occasional event. The level of staffing and budget reflected this. 

"Across a similar period (from 2007 to present day) the second-tier authority, Lancaster City Council, experienced a near 40 per cent cut in central government funding while the thirdtier authority, Lancashire County Council, had to regularly find multi-million-pound savings. 

"In reaction to these circumstances, Morecambe Town Council resolved to try and play a more proactive role and reduce the potential risk of watching a decline of services in Morecambe.

"This resulted in consecutive c.50 per cent rises in the precept, bringing it to £44.11 in 2022-23 - still £33.10 below the national average. 

"For 2023-2024, the council set a revenue budget of £739,000 (including VAT). It also raised a £1m Community Action Fund (CAF) to pursue a regeneration project on the former Frontierland site. 

"Whilst the council ‘froze’ the precept collected in 2023-2024 for its revenue budget, it required an overall increase in the precept of 231 per cent to raise the CAF. 

"Since collecting the CAF Reserve, a new administration has been elected and a new direction established, exploring alternative ways of responding to current community needs. 

"Discussions have been held with elected representatives regarding the reallocation of CAF funds, and careful consideration has been given to all options by the council’s Finance and Governance Committee, with their recommendation following. 

"Councils are recommended to hold a minimum of 25 per cent of annual expenditure as a General Reserve.  

"Prior to 2021 and the significant period of growth that followed, the council held little to no reserves.

"In order to raise the CAF in 2023/24, the council pooled all its reserves. Had the council not raised the £1m, it would still have had to raise the precept by approximately £70 per Band D household across the following two years to resource the expanded services delivered by the council and create a minimum general reserve of 25 per cent against projected annual expenditure.

"Now that Morecambe Town Council is delivering such a significant service for the town, particularly via the work of the Town Rangers, it is more important that general reserves are maintained at the level required to safeguard that (and other) services."

MORECAMBE TOWN COUNCIL 2024/5 BUDGET PROPOSALS

The recommendations are that the council sets its 2024/25 budget at £1,164,680, that it uses £150,000 from its general reserves to subsidise the budget, and that it sets its precept at £951,384.33.

The budget proposals include money for staffing, office equipment, renting an office at Morecambe Town Hall, audits, training, an overhaul of the town council website, tourism due to concerns over the closure of Morecambe Visitor Information Centre, grants for local festivals and community groups, a grant for the Baylight festival in Morecambe, putting on the council's own events, weed control, and town maintenance and improvements.

CARRIED FORWARD FROM 2023/24 - £1,000,195.70

GENERAL RESERVE in 2024-2025 - £850,195.70

SUBSIDY FROM RESERVE FOR BUDGET - £150,000.00

PREDICTED EXPENDITURE - £1,164,680.00

BUDGETED INCOME -  £63,295.67

COUNCIL TAX PRECEPT - £951,384.33

BUDGET SUMMARY

OFFICE RENT - £25,000

STAFFING - £275,000

ADMIN and OFFICE SUPPLIES - £15,000

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - £15,000

INSURANCE - £5,000

AUDITS - £15,000

TRAINING - £6,000

ELECTION COSTS - £31,000

IT INFRASTRUCTURE - £15,000

CIVIC EXPENSES - £2,500

COMMUNITY GRANTS - £35,000

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN - £5,000

CULTURAL SERVICES

FESTIVALS/EVENTS - £60,000

MORECAMBE LIGHTS - £20,000

COUNCIL EVENTS - £60,000

STAFFING/CASUAL - £59,000

TOWN MAINTENANCE

WEEDING SERVICES RECEIPTS - +63,295.67

EQUIPMENT PURCHASE - £80,000

PUBLIC REALM STAFF - £225,000

FLEET/EQUIPMENT REPAIRS - £5,000

MOTOR INSURANCE - £2,000

WEED CONTROL (LCC) - £10,000

WEED CONTROL (MTC) - £10,000

IT SOFTWARE/MOBILES - £10,000

CASUAL STAFF - £30,680

PPE- £5,000

PUBLIC REALM ENHANCEMENTS - £50,000

CONTINGENCY - £16,500

ALLOTMENTS (the council owns North Heysham and West End Allotment sites) - £2,500

COMMUNICATION

GENERAL COMMUNICATION - £15,000

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT - £15,000

WEBSITE - £22,000

TOURISM - £5,000

Morecambe Town Council staffing costs, which were budgeted at their highest ever (£361,000) in 2023/4, will rise again in 2024/5.

The town council has the contract to provide weeding services throughout the Lancaster and Morecambe district, and employs a team of four full-time Town Rangers, and two casual staff, to carry out weeding and other public realm works in the town.

They have also employed a new communications officer, alongside a finance officer, a part-time office employee, and the proper officer, Luke Trevaskis. 

Public realm supervisor and events officer roles are currently vacant.

The town council will continue to offer grants to Morecambe festival organisers and had also begun to run its own regular local events under the previous regime.

These included the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Party on Morecambe Promenade in summer 2022, and the King's Coronation 'Morecambe Big Lunch' (pictured below). This took place shortly after the May 2023 elections, but had been approved by the previous administration.

The council will increase the amounts available to fund local groups and projects via the Community Grant Fund by 40 per cent (from £25,000 to £35,000).

The 2024/5 budget proposals also say: "The council’s projected income of £30,000 for its events schedule is unlikely to be achieved in this financial year and an adjustment to the budget should be made to account for this.

"There has been a sum of £6,017 received from events earlier in the financial year. However, with the absence of an Events Officer, the council has not had the capacity to fully optimise its income in this area."

The council also said its audit budget has increased because "during the past two years the council has received challenges to its end of year audit" causing "substantial delays to the conclusion of the audit, and significantly increased the workload of officers, resulting in a backlog of day-to-day work".

"This budget has increased in order to accommodate heightened auditor’s bills and an appropriate level of staffing to simultaneously resource challenge correspondence whilst providing continuity to normal operations."

Read more: Auditor completes investigation after complaint about Morecambe Town Council - Beyond Radio

LAST YEAR'S BUDGET

Here's a summary of the last Morecambe Town Council budget for 2023/24.

Read more: £100k for festivals and highest ever staffing costs in Morecambe Town Council budget - Beyond Radio

COUNCIL TAX

Morecambe Town Council is a parish council, formed in 2009. It is completely separate tier of government to Lancaster City Council and Lancashire County Council.

Council Tax in Morecambe is divided between the town council, Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, Adult and Social Care, and Lancashire Fire Authority.

The county council gets the lion's share of Council Tax (around 73 per cent). The town council's proportion is only small in comparison.

Lancaster City Council is proposing to increase its 11 per cent share of Council Tax in 2024/25 by 2.99 per cent, the maximum allowable by the government. The other authorities' precepts will be confirmed soon. 

The next meeting of Morecambe Town Council will be held this Thursday, January 18 at 7pm at Morecambe Town Hall. The meeting is open to the public.

Here is all the background to this story from 2023.

Read more: Morecambe Town Council to raise £1m from taxpayers in attempt to acquire Frontierland - Beyond Radio

MP to lead Parliamentary debate on Morecambe Town Council tax rise - Beyond Radio

Morecambe Town Council hits back after MP rips into 'Frontierland tax' rise in Westminster speech - Beyond Radio

Row over Frontierland rumbles on as Morecambe councillor labels tax rise "disgusting" - Beyond Radio