Commissioners says being ‘prudent’ has kept rates low for residents

Peel Commissioners have increased rates by 1.1 percent for the next financial year.

They’ll stand at 270 pence in the pound.

The lead member for finance says being ‘prudent’, over the past few years, has kept them low for residents.

Peel rates

However the refuse rate for the town has increased, by £34 per household, which the commissioners say the Energy from Waste Plant has ‘dramatically’ increased over the last year.

The refuse rate will be set at £257 per household.

Ray Harmer says the increase in rates will support the Western Swimming Pool as well as the plans to improve Marine Parade:

Transcription:

“In Peel, our rates are made of two elements. One element is the refuse charge, which is going up from 223 pounds per household to 257.

And then there’s the actual rates. The penny and the pound rates for everything else and that’s going up by 3p from 267 to 270.

Regarding the refuse rate, we are very much in the hands of the charges that forwarded back on to us. So a lot of that is around the Energy from Waste Plant.

So those rates have dramatically increased over the last year. So our refuse rates have likewise increased. Regarding the general rates, that’s really quite a small increase and that really has been down to the fact that over the years we’ve been able to make staffing administration savings.

So despite the fact that salaries again have been going up each year, we’ve been able to make savings in that in that space. We’re also making an allowance for the Western Swimming pool of up to 6p in the pound so that we can support that.

So when you’ve got those elements actually our increase is quite small. And we have to be careful that we maintain and we’re able to do the things that people rightly expect of us.

So for example, you know, if there’s dark spots in in street lighting plus you know, keep and maintain our play parks and we’re hoping to improve the beach area.

So we have to obtain a new beach harrier to maintain it and and and provide a better job than we were in the past. So it’s a balancing act, but by making savings over the years and being as prudent as we possibly can, that has meant on our own costs, we’ve been able to just have a quite a modest increase of 1.1%.”

By Emma Draper Local Democracy Reporter