Ventnor Town Council has agreed to increase its precept council tax by 9% for the next financial year – but it could have been more than 11%. At a budget-setting meeting on Tuesday, councillors decided to settle for a 9% rise from April 2024. This was reduced from the 11.2% proposed in the agenda papers after Ventnor West councillor Ian Bond proposed that the council anticipate further staff savings during the early part of the year, and use these to cover some of the project spend in the budget. The agreed budget provides for the beach safety team to work through the Summer and be lifeguard trained, CCTV for the Esplanade toilets, and renewal of the electrical supply in Ventnor Park (part-funded working with Ventnor Fringe). The spend on the Time and Tide Bell, which has yet to be installed, has been cut as well as the proposed new position of town crier. The news means that a Band D property in the town will pay an extra £15.33 a year – £185.90 in total. Councillor Bond has said:
“There was widespread concern at the suggestion made at our December meeting of a tax increase of 16.6%, and I have been working with the Mayor and Finance Officer to try and bring this down. “This is a difficult year for many residents, and I am pleased that the latest changes made have brought our increase down into single figures, and that we have dropped the Town Crier project that many residents felt would not be a sensible use of funds. “This year represents a challenging one for the council because, despite savings on the staffing budget, the budget set last year failed to provide for many known costs, and a significant saving within it was never implemented. On top of this, we need to work with Ventnor Fringe to renew and enhance the electrical supply in the park, and cover the costs of the CCTV needed to protect our public toilets from vandalism.”
I don’t understand, the government says inflation is just 4% and yet all tax is rising buy more that two times that. Surly the government wouldn’t lie about that. I was very impressed, just like Russia, how our inflation dropped from 10% to 4% in a matter of a few months. I can’t believe our government would be just as bad as the Russian government? At least we still have free speech, we don’t arrest people for holding up blank bits of paper do we or imprison journalists who have not been convicted for any crime and without trial. We wouldn’t do that would we?????
They are sending all the money to Ukraine and
spending billions of our money to house all
the migrants in 5 Star Hotels around the country.
That is the honest answer, they will say otherwise!
Voice of reason, more like “voice of the Daily Mail reading, sponge-brained Nigel Garage loving, economics retardant troll”.
If you do not understand macro economics ,you just dont, should we be cheering that the increase was only 9 per cent as opposed to 11, thats 9 per cent more than it should be.these tin pot town councils are just are only in place because the IOW council cannot do their job.
As I see it, government limits council tax rises to 4.99%, so the council hives off additional loads to the Town Councils, who jack their rates up to cover it. Over whose eyes is the wool being pulled?
High prices due to inflation have stopped spending, which has decreased inflation. Russia now has a wartime economy and the cost of producing weapons has upped productivity to lower inflation.
Err watch this space! Democracy has been just about removed from many of us in favour of the minority views on just about everything! I don’t think this country has done less joined up thinking ever.
So many experts and yet so little intelligence, welcome to the isle of Wight and its many buffoons.
I totally agree.
Never heard such a load of rubbish. A difficult year for many residents, made even more difficult after April by you putting the precept up. CCTV to protect toilets, surely you mean CCTV to protect the public. Stop giving handouts to the Ventnor druggies and there will be more than enough cash to go around.
Who will watch the CCTV? Pointless without monitoring in real time.
Thankyou could of made it 10 nice round number..wankers.
It’s falling into the sea. You’d have thought they could get a reduction for that.
What’s the difference between Ventnor and a shi%hole? Answer nobody knows. What’s the best thing about Ventnor? Answer The road out of there.
Many of Ventnor’s residents could not care less if the precept or c.tax went up 100%.
Not because they are rich, but because they have emptied wombs, pretend to live alone and get their rent, c.tax and hundreds a week in benefits, along with their ‘invisible’ live in latest child’s Sire, who often ‘deals’ adding to undeclared income.
That is WHY there aren’t enough young to work as a huge number ‘playing the game’ and Ventnor is at the top of it, with various hued children from various ex ‘lovers’.
Mental illness isn’t funny, but what you just wrote is hilarious. It’s as if Robert Maxwell came back to life and vomited on a keyboard while a team of seals clapped flippers behind him.
Yes the truth is a little rare to read and hard to accept now for many. So used to the nanny state, teachers, Politicians and others not being able to tell it how it is, so comes as a bit of a shock. Likely you can claim a week off due to ‘stress’ assuming you work of course, which is quite unusual too nowadays for woke folk
Thanks Ive Searle. Why not stick with your usual nom de rant?
Well … You didn’t think the IWC were paying for the subsidence and land slides did you.. too busy wasting our money on shopping malls island roads and chain ferries ..
Good to see everyone pulling together