Your Council

Budget 2008/2009

• The Council Budget 2008/2009
• What Services Does Your Council Tax Bill Pay for?
• How much do I pay?
• Why has the Neath Port Talbot element of the bill increased?

The Council Budget 2008/09

• The Council’s Revenue Budget for 2008/2009 is shown below. It includes levies made on the Council by the Mid and West Wales Fire Authority (£6.6m) and other levying bodies (£0.3m).
  
   

  		£m
  	Gross Expenditure	377.4
  Less,	Specific Grants	(73.5)
  Less,	Rents, Charges etc.	(73.5)
  		230.4
  	Reserves and Contingencies	5.8
  	Net Expenditure	236.2
  	Financed from:
  	- Revenue Support Grant	151.6
  	- Business Rates	36.1
  	- Council Tax	48.5
  		236.2

   

• The Council will be spending £377.4m in 2008/2009.
  
  
   
• The Council gets most of its income (including its share of Business Rates) from the National Assembly and central government. Council Tax only provides 14% of the total income.
  
   

What Services Does Your Council Tax Bill Pay for?

• There services enhance the lives of thousands of the citizens of the county borough, including the most vulnerable members of our communities.

How much do I pay?

Why has the Neath Port Talbot element of the bill increased?

• On average. council tax bills have increased by 3.2%
• The Council has faced a number of pressures on its budget for 2008/09.
  These include:
   

  Preasure	Cost
  Inflation and pay increases	£7.8 m.
  Additional Social Services costs (incl. placements)	£2.2 m.
  Waste disposal	£1.1 m.
  Additional special education needs	£0.5 m
  Additional levies	£0.4 m.
  Other	£2.9 m.

   

• These pressures have been offset by a number of measures, including:
   

  Measure	Saving
  Efficiency savings	£2.3 m.
  Transfer of care costs to health authority	£2.0 m.
  Reduction in loan charges	£1.5 m.
  Falling school rolls	£0.8 m.
  Other Education savings	£1.3 m.
  Other	£0.4 m.

   

• The Council’s expenditure has, therefore, increased by 2.9% from £229.6m. to £236.2m. Because the amount of money which the Council receives from the National Assembly (Revenue Support Grant plus Non-Domestic Rates) has increased by only 2.3% (after taking account of transferred responsibilities) the increase in council tax bills is 3.0%.