Council agrees budget and sets council tax for 2007/08

Mid Devon District Council has agreed its budget and set the level for its share of council tax for the financial year 2007/08.

Mid Devon residents will see a 14 pence per week rise in the District Council’s share of their council tax bills. This means that the average Band D household will pay Mid Devon £167.60, compared to £160.23 this year.

This equates to an increase of 4.6% – lower than the Devon County Council increase of 4.75% and the Devon & Cornwall Police Authority increase of 4.94% – and is comparable to the increases in a number of other districts in Devon.

Leader Eddie Dennis said “There’s no denying that the Council has been through a difficult few months financially, but I feel confident that we have now turned the corner. Not long ago we were looking at a potential shortfall in the budget for 2007/08 of £1.2m, but now we have voted for a balanced, workable and robust budget that I believe creates the foundation for financial stability over the coming years.

“We have done this through a combination of efficiency savings, a relatively small number of redundancies (not undertaken at all lightly) and minor adjustments to the way we do business – for example, closing the Cullompton area office with a view to setting up a one-stop shop with Cullompton Town Council. I am very pleased to report that we balanced the budget without having to make any reduction in grants to local voluntary groups – whose work for the local community I salute – nor any cuts to frontline services.

“Work on a detailed review of the Council’s management structure is ongoing, with a view to ensuring the best possible value-for-money is achieved while continuing to provide high-quality services to the people of Mid Devon.”