On Monday 20th January the Town Council agreed a budget of £1,324,115 for the 2025/26 financial year.
To set the budget this year, the Council has had to face the impact of significant increases in the cost in employer national insurance contributions, in particular, whilst also trying to mitigate the impact of the reduction of services proposed by Somerset Council.
It has been communicated by Somerset Council that if the Town Council do not take on the following services at this juncture the community will lose them: the public conveniences, parks and highways/floral maintenance. To assess the economic, social and cultural impact of losing key services in the Burnham & Highbridge area, the Town Council formed a Devolution Work Group this year to specifically address this situation, the advantages of increased autonomy and the additional financial responsibility.
With all this in mind, the Town Council has agreed a budget which includes projected income of £129,225 and expenditure of £1,453,340. Details of the income and expenditure can be found on the website – https://burnham-highbridge-tc.gov.uk/. These costs include the work of the Town Council to maintain the cemeteries, administer allotments and fund some of the key events in the towns including fireworks and Christmas lights. The budget also covers the cost of certain public facilities such as CCTV, benches, tree & hedge maintenance, the Princess Theatre and the work of staff to support residents and visitors, as well as the award of grants of £32,700 to community groups. Included within the expenditure are the additional costs in areas such as highways maintenance, floral displays, parks and public conveniences that have previously come under the remit of Somerset Council.
The expenditure will be funded by a precept of £1,324,115, which will form part of the council tax along with the requirements of Somerset Council and Police. This equates to an increase in the Town Council element of £51.21 per year to a Band D property to £194.62, a weekly increase of just under £1.00.
As the full extent to which Town & Parish Councils will have to take on additional public services is as yet unknown, the Council has decided it would not be prudent to draw down additional funding from reserves at this present point in time.
The Council have taken the difficult decision to increase our precept request this year to save essential services, that if lost, would be detrimental to the whole community and future success of Burnham-on-Sea & Highbridge. Throughout the process of setting the budget, officers and councillors have worked hard to prioritise the services most important to our community. The devolution of services to a local level will provide us with an opportunity for greater control over our amenities, the flexibility to choose how costs are balanced against opening times for the public conveniences, the kind of equipment and facilities available in our play parks and the age groups they accommodate and move towards more sustainable planting in our flower beds. In future we hope this will extend to local prioritisation of minor highway repairs. The budget opens the door for an increase in localism and active democracy and the Council hopes all residents will help us shape these priorities in future.