Town councillors in Nantwich have approved a draft plan to increase their portion of Council Tax by 5% in 2026-27.
The proposal, which would see just over £8 a year added to a Band D property within Nantwich Town Council boundary, will now go out to public consultation.
Not all councillors agreed with the rise in the precept, which is above inflation.
Cllr Loic Charbonneau said: “For third year in a row we will be increasing the precept above inflation.
“By justifying it by breaking it down into pennies each week is disappointing.
“With a little extra work we could make this balanced and have increased it within inflation rates.
“Our precept is the highest in Cheshire East as a town council. Where is the money going?
“For example, we pay a consultant who comes to measure the temperature of our water. We pay someone to put their finger in the water and say ‘yes it’s ok’!
“Things need to change.”
But Cllr Caroline Kirkham said the council’s finance committee had met three or four times and had been through the budget line by line to make savings.
“We’re tried to make as much savings as possible, so to bring this up in a public forum I find slightly disappointing,” she added.
Cllr Stuart Bostock said: “It goes to public consultation. Let’s see what sort of response we get from the public. If it’s negative then we will look at it again.”
Cllr Anna Burton added: “It’s not fair to imply there’s a lot of wastage. I’ve been to numerous finance meetings and we’ve made a lot of savings, there’s not really much else we can cut. Everyone involved has done a good job.”
If the town council froze its precept, the authority would lose around £1,260.
A report by town council clerk Samantha Roberts states: “The finance committee recognises the impact of inflation on the budget, in particular the cost of utilities and salaries and have worked to reduce the budget demand and increase potential income to offset the cost of the precept with residents.
“The clerk has recommended an increase of £8.04p per year per Band D property to be consulted on.
“This results in an estimated balance at the end of the year 2026-27 of £524,411.”
The council has a legal requirement to ensure its general reserves are maintained equivalent to between four and six months of revenue expenditure.
A 5% increase on the town council precept would see their portion of overall council tax bill for householders go up to £168.94p.
The public consultation will start on Monday November 10th until Sunday December 7th.
what do you expect a school place for every new house built,? maybe planning ought to specify the builder should add one to their builds whilst they are cementing over our once lovely fields, plenty of schools then
Bring in some Management expertise from the private sector. I have no doubt substantial savings could be made.
As a resident of Nantwich for 31years I have given up. Money is wasted at so many levels both by the Town Council and Cheshire East.
There is no accountability, no responsibility taken.
Gross Domestic Product or GDP since 2010 has grown by 50 percent in the private sector, in the public sector its remained static. Not my words, words spoken on the BBC by a professor of economics from Imperial College..
Councillors voting between themselves, seems like a very biased and unfair way to decide what is best for the public interest. Oddly, they always seem to vote in favour of what benefits them.
Why not let the public vote on these matters?
The council don’t deserve a 5% pay rise, we shouldn’t reward or incentivise incompetence.
It does seem ridiculous that a girl who lives in Nantwich cannot attend one of the two secondary schools by right. But surely one of the problems is the number of pupils choosing to attend these Nantwich schools when they live nearer to alternative schools in the Crewe area. All this criss crossing causes more traffic and more pollution, to everyone’s detriment.