THE upcoming task of agreeing a budget for the coming year has been a source of controversy at Andover Town Council, with some pleased with the draft currently on the table and others claiming it has not made enough cutbacks.

As councillors prepare to debate and agree a budget for 2022/23 next week, which must be finalised by the end of the month, opinions are split. The challenge is recognising rising costs, and stripping back to save residents’ cash.

On Tuesday, January 18, members of the town council’s policy and resources committee discussed the draft budget to be put before full council next week.

The draft was previously discussed at full council in December, when members requested that reductions be made.

The recommended budget is a total of £370,077.50, with members choosing to account for a five per cent inflation rate.

It is proposed that the precept – the levy charged to residents as part of their taxes and allocated to the town council – would remain the same as the 2021/22 level.

This equates to an annual £21.10 precept for a Council Tax Band D property, and would raise £361,801.70 in total.

Members of the policy and resources committee agreed that the council should use reserve funds to make up the shortfall.

The draft is based on putting aside money for current commitments, including current staffing and town council projects. Documents presented by officers to committee members stated that “reductions have been made to the budget proposal for 2022/2023” however, it added that “members may wish to consider further reductions/deductions from the budget”.

At the same meeting, members were also presented with a first draft of a new Back to Basics strategy for the council, which could see it strip back on spending in the future, once finalised and agreed.

However, the committee decided at this time to put forward the draft budget as recommended to them.

Cllr Luigi Gregori said: “I am glad to see we are taking out a lot of rubbish. I look forward, with Back to Basics, to further cut-down on these things.”

But not all councillors are happy with the proposals, with one putting together an “alternative budget” for consideration.

Speaking to the Advertiser, Cllr David Coole said: “Many members have been disappointed with the draft 2022/23 budgets being presented to them for consideration, primarily because the budgets do not reflect value for money, given that the council has adopted a Back to Basics strategy of focusing on planning comments, Christmas lights, allotments and basic governance.

“Following the failure by the policy and resources Committee Meeting to reduce the Budget as requested by the December full council meeting, an alternative 2022/23 Budget and precept has been submitted for consideration. I will be proposing the motion and Cllr Rebecca Meyer will be seconding it.”

The proposed alternative 2022/23 budget and precept is £283,968.00 – £86,109.50 less than the budget recommended by the committee.

This would mean an annual £16.56 precept for a Council Tax Band D property – a £4.54 reduction on the 2021/22 precept.

Cllr Coole continued: “Whilst it is a small reduction, it demonstrates that members recognise the real hardships many households are experiencing and that they are serious in implementing the council’s Back to Basics strategy.”

Cllr Coole’s alternative strives to secure a “balanced budget”. His suggestions include cutting reserve fund pots and administration costs, and combining events funding into a single pot, ready to hand out as required, rather than splitting it up for separate projects.

Both budgets will be considered at full council, to be held in the Upper Guildhall on Tuesday, January 25.