ILKLEY Town Council has set its budget and precept for the 2024-25 financial year.

At a meeting on Monday the precept was agreed as £399,414, resulting in an annual precept payment for a Band D household of £55.17. This represents an annual rise of £0.84 (1.55%) per Band D household from the previous figure of £54.33. For 2023-24, according to official government data, the average Band D precept in England was £78.79.

In setting the precept, the Town Council says it was mindful of its responsibility to provide value for money for residents whilst securing the financial position in continued difficult economic times.

Ilkley Town Mayor Councillor Karl Milner said: “Ilkley Town Council has decided to raise the precept by slightly over a penny a week per Band D household. This small increase will enable the Town Council to continue to support vital local community and environmental groups through its grant schemes, to fund the council’s response to food poverty as well as service a new Changing Places facility in Ilkley town centre.

"2024-25 is likely to be a challenging and uncertain year for all publicly funded organisations and decisions made elsewhere are bound to have a significant effect on the Town Council. These will affect how we provide services, but, the Town Council cannot set a precept based on possibilities, hearsay, and what might be. Given the facts we have before us, at this time, the Council has agreed this slight increase.”

A spokesman for the Conservative Ilkley town councillors said: “The budget has been considered six times over the past few months and at no point has any increase in the precept been proposed. We believed there was broad agreement that the precept should be frozen. Now at the last minute that has been changed. Although it is not a large increase, it will come on top of a 5 per cent rise in council tax, and potentially up to 15 per cent if Bradford Council goes bankrupt, which is a strong possibility. We voted against this rise in the precept and suggested alternatives, but unfortunately the Mayor chose to push the budget through by using his casting vote on two separate motions, rather than seek consensus.”

The Town Council manages the Brook Street, Riverside and White Wells toilets and will also be responsible for the new Changing Places facility in the main car park. It provides and manages three allotment sites, maintains the Darwin Gardens, hosts community events and and provides the Jubilee and Christmas lights. The Town Council also has a grant scheme and makes numerous awards to community organisations supporting meaningful change towards carbon reduction and environmental improvement, assisting community, cultural and sporting groups, and promotes understanding of diversity and inclusion.

Ilkley Town Council receives most of its income to carry out this work through the precept, an annual sum of money collected with Council Tax by Bradford Metropolitan District Council, paid by approximately 7,240 households in the town. The rest of the Council’s income derives from charges for services such as public toilets, bank interest, grants, and the Community Infrastructure Levy.

A copy of the budget is available on the Town Council website.