DESPITE trimming its budget, Frodsham Town Council has increased its share of the 2009/10 council tax – but residents will still pay slightly less than last year.
The town council has set its latest precept at £119,555, a rise of £1,378 on last year’s demand.
However, because there are now more Band D properties in Frodsham, those households will each be asked to fork out £31.91 to cover the precept requirement – 18p less than last year.
Keen to keep the precept as low as possible to help residents struggling with the economic crisis, councillors spent a two-hour meeting reviewing committees’ draft budgets, and trimmed the authority’s overall budget for 2009/10 to £144,650.
The cutbacks mean the council will not top up its capital reserves in the coming financial year.
Although the authority hopes to secure partial grant funding, it will have to dip into existing reserves for a planned £11,000 refurbishment of the war memorial on Frodsham Hill.
Councillors are also still working on a business plan for the Tarvin Road Burial Ground that will include raising vital funding to be ring-fenced for future maintenance.
Cllr Riley said: “We desperately need an answer to when we might need to expand the burial ground and how much it will cost so we will know how long we’ve got to make it.”
