Tax freeze from town council

At a meeting this week, town councillors voted for the precept – the amount of money it raises through council tax – to remain at £44,390.99, which works out at less than £5 per household.

Figures from the meeting showed the council has so far spent less than half of the £82,533.60 it had budgeted for 2013/14, with a large surplus expected by the end of the financial year in April. Mayor of Mirfield Vivien Lees-Hamilton said: “We don’t need to put a financial burden on people in Mirfield by increasing the precept. Even though there may be more grants given out before April, we will still be well within our budget. We have also saved a lot of money in wages and admin costs in the past year.”

Coun David Pinder added: “We have no grounds whatsoever to suggest raising the precept. Even though we don’t know what Kirklees has up its sleeve, it is not a bad thing to keep it where it is and not raise it.” Since April 2013, the council has spent just £563.50 of the £8,000 it set aside for civic and other events, while wages paid were just £9,560 out of the £13,400 it budgeted for.

Coun Lees-Hamilton believes the money saved gives the council a good contingency for next year and was keen to point out the good things the council had done for the town in the past year.

She added: “If it had not been for the town council, Kirklees would have closed down the public toilets in town. We have also given grants to good causes.”