Precept Announcement
Dear Residents of Hartlip Parish
Within weeks the 2024/2025 Council Tax bills will be arriving through your letterboxes.
Your overall council tax bill is made up of a tax demand for 6 areas – Kent County Council, Kent County Council Adult Social Care, The Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Kent & Medway Fire & Rescue, Swale Borough Council and finally Hartlip Parish Council.
Your bill will usually arrive with explanatory leaflets explaining where the tax is spent but the Parish Councils do not have this opportunity and as the lowest part of your overall Council Tax we want to explain the Parish costs and the challenges we have ahead of you receiving your bill.
The Parish Council has recently completed its annual budget review for 2024/2025.
The Councillors worked through the budget carefully, analysing the costs in order that services residents appreciate were protected; one of these is the Munns Lane Recreation Ground and children's play area, which is entirely funded by the Parish Council.
The Parish Council of course has to achieve a delicate balance between the cost of meeting the needs and expectations of the Parish and its residents while ensuring the financial burden on our community remains reasonable.
We have all seen increasing costs everywhere for some time now and the Parish Council is no exception. Together with new regulations and withdrawal of free services we now need to implement a substantial increase in your annual Parish Council Tax to ensure we remain financially stable and be able to meet the costs and expectations of the Parish.
The Parish Council provides the local authority services closest to the residents, such as open spaces, play areas, monuments and statutory administration to name four. Whilst these might not be in the same league as education and social services, they are nonetheless important to the village to maintain its desirability and enjoyment as a place to live, work and visit.
Unlike borough and county councils who make up the large majority of the council tax bill, parishes receive no funding from central government, relying solely on what residents pay via the small parish element of council tax. The following are some of the key costs we have had to budget for in 2024/2025:
§ Renewing the HPC defibrillator
§ Fly tipping contingency
§ Increase costs on estate management
§ Meeting Health & Safety requirements of the play equipment on the recreation ground
§ Maintenance of the Parkland including boundary fencing
§ New costs to meet Government requirements of Parish Councils
§ Funding for improved recreation equipment which we will shortly be consulting the Parish on
§ Increasing IT costs
So how much will I have to pay?
Hartlip Parish has historically had one of the lowest parish precept in the borough and county, with a Tax Base of 369 (number of taxable properties) the precept income is very low and that makes it difficult to fund change. Even with the 2024/2025 increase the parish precept will still be one of the lowest and at £54.15 annual cost for Hartlip Parish Council Band D this is lower than the annual cost of a single Swale brown bin for garden waste.
The Parish Council has approved the following for 2024/25:
A precept of £20,000.
Your individual property cost will depend on your council tax band but as an example, an individual property cost for an average Band D property for the annual precept of £20,000 equates to:
§ £54.15 per year or £1.04 per week
§ 62 pence extra per week
We acknowledge that this decision may come as a burden to some within our community. We deeply regret any hardship this may cause and assure you that this decision was not made lightly. Our goal is to maintain and improve the vibrancy and sustainability of our Parish and community while upholding the quality of services and support that each resident deserves.
