MELKSHAM Town Council is asking local residents to “have their say” about how much they are willing to pay towards next year’s precept – the proportion of council tax paid to the town council.
The council hopes that the consultation will help them to understand what the community’s priorities are for future services, facilities and projects that the town council could provide.
Information gathered will help the town council create its budget for the 2021/22 financial year.
The consultation has also been described as a good opportunity to “educate” and raise awareness in the community about how the town council spends the money it receives via council tax payments.
“Around precept time we do get a lot of comments – positive and negative – about where the money goes,” said cllr Hayley Illman at a full town council meeting earlier this month. “We can find out what the public understands about what we already do.”
The proposal for the consultation by the leader and deputy leader of the council – cllr Vanessa Fiorelli and cllr Adrienne Westbrook – received the backing from councillors at the meeting.
Their proposal said, “Melksham Town Council is a very proactive council that clearly wishes to continue to deliver great facilities and services to our community.
“We have ensured that our budget is reflective of this over recent years. However, as we move forward, it becomes more apparent that some of the facilities and services that we would like to provide will have an impact of the precept that residents contribute.
“Therefore, it is only fair to actually ask the residents of Melksham Town what they would like their precept to look like and what they will get for their contributions.”
