East Lindsey District Council seeks views on proposed 2019/20 Budget

East Lindsey District Council is inviting residents, businesses, and interested parties to have their say on its draft budget proposals for 2019/20.
Council TaxCouncil Tax
Council Tax

The District Council continues to be faced with significant financial challenges over the coming years, with 2019/20 being the final year of the four year grant settlement agreed by Government in 2016, and ongoing uncertainty over the amount of business rates income it will receive.

The Council has continued to finalise its Transformation Programme, which has so far delivered 89% of the anticipated savings across the four years of the programme, and support for vulnerable people and the local economy remain priorities.

The draft budget proposes:

• A Council Tax increase of £4.95p per year (for Band D homes this is equivalent to 9.5p per week). Most homes fall into a lower band so their increase would be less. Council Tax in East Lindsey remains one of the lowest in the Country.

• Additional income from commercial activities guided by our adopted Financial Sustainability Strategy

• Increased capital investment in Council assets to help generate more income, reduce maintenance and other running costs and help deliver services more efficiently.

• Support for the Council’s reserves and help protect against future volatility in Business Rates income.

In order to help meet any future budget gap the Council has produced a Financial Sustainability Strategy. The Strategy outlines possible new income streams that could be achieved through income generating initiatives.

ELDC’s Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Richard Fry, said: “We have continued to face up well to the pressures of reducing government funding, however, we know that these will continue over the coming years.

“Our draft budget continues to work towards our priorities of doing all we can to support the district’s most vulnerable residents, grow the economy of the area and providing the services we have to by law.

“We will continue to look at ways of becoming more efficient and delivering savings where possible, however, we also have to look at ways of increasing the income we generate. To that end we will be pursuing a number of income generating activities, as guided by our Financial Sustainability Strategy.”

To read the full budget proposals and to take part in the consultation visit www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/budget or visit one of ELDC’s Customer Access Points.

The consultation is open until 5pm on February 12.

Once the consultation is completed the views of the community will be passed back to the Executive Board for consideration on February 20, 2019. A report will then go to the council on March 6.