Sadgebore District Council took advantage of a ‘bad news day’ to try to sneak out an increase in council tax for the area.
Hoping that residents minds would be on more important things, Illiberal Leader of Sadgebore County Council, Councillor David Goat, announced that the new budget, designed to allow Sadgebore to look as if it is an efficient council, would need to rise in the area to not only fund any possible future drop in his salary caused by the merger of Sadgebore into Somerset but to also make improvements to business and facilities for holiday makers.
At a time when many residents in the area are struggling with price increases everywhere and the prospects of further increases in the cost of living, whilst wages remain static, Cllr Goat felt it only right to increase Council Tax saying “This budget from Sadgebore has been designed to take advantage of the cuts made to both Parish and Town Councils portions of the Council Tax. Look on it as a ‘The Locals Giveth and the District Taketh Away’ Budget.”
The budget plans include
- an additional £150,000 to cover the cost of moving the new Playpen in Smalltown further down the Promenade.
- £100,000 to cover the costs of employing lifeguards on Bream Beach, as demanded by the Really Needy Lifesaviing Association.
- £500,000 towards setting up the All-New-Yet-Unimproved Somerset Cuonty Council, to help us employ more staff to deal with all the work they should have done already but definitely have to do before we are abolished, so we don’t look as if we’ve been a ‘Mickey Mouse’ council.
- a proposal put forward by the BeFuddled Party, to spend £50,000 on a Task Force to explain to businesses in Smalltown and Dullbridge how to run a business, was also accepted.
- £194,000 to make improvements to Fridgepond, including new sports facilities, because we need to keep the residents in Fridgepond onside in order to get their votes.
SomersetClive wonders why the millions and millions of pounds given to Sadgebore from the Chernobyl-By-Sea Community Slush Fund and the grants received from the Government’s Welcome Back fund couldn’t have been spent more wisely to cover all the costs that are now being passed onto residents, particularly as residents in Smalltown and Dullbridge won’t see any improvements to their own lives from the increase in Council Tax.
Whether or not any of the money will be used to replace the light bulbs on Smalltown South Promenade remains to be seen, but is highly doubtful.