Explaining the Parish Precept

At the January meeting of the Silverdale Parish Council, the council decided the budget for the next year and within that the precept. This is the amount that the parish council asks for in Council Tax.  Here is an explanation of how we arrived at Silverdale’s precept.

For the coming year the precept for Silverdale is £76, an increase of £7k over the last year. This equates to a 27 per cent increase and amounts to an extra £27 per month on a Band F property.

So why is the precept going up again like in recent years? Apart from the obvious elements of increase in wages, both clerks and our contractors, higher energy bills and insurance there are three other factors that contribute.

Firstly, the council recognises that equipment in the playground needs constant maintenance and will eventually require complete replacement of some elements. To that end we have been accruing funds into our reserves to help this replacement – in the 2024/25 year this figure will be £12k.

Secondly, regular perusers of the Parish Magazine will be aware that in recent years there has been a lot of work on the trees on council land; Bankwell, Woodwell, Burton Well, Scroggs, St Johns Ave and at the Children’s Playground. We have implemented a woodland management scheme which was starting to make a difference, then three years ago ash ‘dieback’ hit our woodlands, resulting in a lot of tree felling, which will continue for some time yet. Some diseased trees can be left, but as many of ours are close to roads or footpaths the council must ensure that safety is paramount.

The third element is the village public toilets. The parish council has been successful in obtaining a £50k grant towards replacing the present block on Bank House Lane. This grant will not cover all the costs but a large proportion of them. Additionally, the parish council is in the process of purchasing the site from Lancaster City Council and, once that happens, the council grant for the toilets will cease and the parish council will become solely responsible.  We have set aside £12k for this.

We hope this goes someway to explaining to the village community how their local council tax is being spent.  We can’t answer for the City or County taxes though!