Statement on rates process 2018/2019




“As a council we approach the setting of the rates for 2018/2019 in a crisis, albeit one that is temporarily deferred due to the extensive use of council reserves. The loss of rates income due to the reduction in energy production at Kilroot and Ballylumford is estimated at £1.3 million next year and £2 million every subsequent year. It is also fair to say that there were significant issues with council’s budgetary process even before the Kilroot announcement.

Council had a target of raising £1.5 million through efficiency savings in 2018/19, with a loss of £1.3 million we realistically must save £2.5 million to replace the reserves used this year. We cannot assume that there will not be significant losses in future years.

During the meeting to set the rates Cllr Gaston identified savings of £1 million and sought to use these to have the rates rise reduced. The cost savings he identified are broadly reasonable and should be taken forward. But they are not enough, the proposed rise of 2.95% was based on making these and many more cuts. I know that he will be supportive of taking the difficult decisions that lie ahead as he knows my party is, but the finances of this council will only be managed for the benefit of ratepayers when other parties accept the challenging times that lie ahead.

Council’s ambitious capital plans were and remain a cause of concern. In 2016/2017 our capital debt per person was £443.35 and this debt would rise to £767.02 by 2019/20 before including any borrowing for the City Deal and Heathrow Hub. Current projections show that the percentage of a rates bill spent on repaying capital would rise from 15% to 20%, that is effectively a further revenue cut of £2.5 million.

This figure is unsustainable and requires us to take radical action now to address it. We have the potential to find new ways of delivering services, of delivering capital investment and while these have been accepted as options without implementation they now become imperatives.

It is essential that council takes hard decisions now, the first quarter of the new financial year will demonstrate whether council, as a body, has an understanding of the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.”

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