Berinsfield Parish Council
Precept 2018/19
Berinsfield Parish Council agreed at its meeting held on 18th December, 2017 that it would require the sum of £119,187.00 to maintain its facilities and provide statutory services for the year 2018/19, which include :-
The recreation ground and sports pitches in the centre of the village.
Two play areas including the play equipment
Skateboard park
Pavilion
Allotments
Burial Ground
Grass cutting and litter picking of all land owned or leased by the Parish Council. Grass cutting weekly during growing season and litter picking ranges from daily on the play area, skateboard park and recreation ground to weekly on other open space areas.
Provision and maintenance of bus shelters
Provision and emptying of litter bins on Parish Council owned land
Provision and emptying of dog litter bins
Trees and tree planting
Provision and care of planters and hanging baskets
Maintenance of clock on Church of St. Mary and St. Berin
Provision and maintenance of two Defibrilators
The War Memorial
The Parish Council will distribute up to £4,100 in grant aid to voluntary organisations in the village in 2018/19.
The Parish Council employs two part-time employees, the Clerk and the Pavilion Caretaker and uses contractors to provide its other services.
The precept has been increased for 2018-19 by 2.5% to £119,187.00. One of the reasons for this increase is that the Parish Council has taken over some of the functions previously carried out by Oxfordshire County Council, the main one being the grass cutting and clearing weeds and moss from the edges of the pavements and road edges. The Parish Council has again included £5000 its budget to support other services in the village previously supported by Oxfordshire County Council.
The schedule of Council Tax bases issued by South Oxfordshire District Council assumes that properties are in Band D, but as will be seen from the table below, the majority of properties in Berinsfield are in Bands A to C and only 13 properties in Band D and 2 in Band E and therefore the Council Tax per property is adjusted accordingly.
No of propertiesParish portion of Council Tax2018/19 2017/18
Band A82£122.79£122.39
Band B624£143.26£142.78
Band C379£163.72£163.18
Band D13 £184.19£183.58
Band E3£225.12£224.38
Band F0£266.05£265.17
Band G0£306.98£305.97
Band H0£368.38£367.16
Berinsfield Parish Council increased its precept from £74,800 to £114,000 in 2008/09 and it remained at that amount until 2013 – 2016 when the Parish Council still required £114,000 to provide its services, but reduced its precept request to the District Council by the amount of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme funds that it was offered by the District Council. The Council Tax Reduction Scheme replaced Council Tax benefits which had previously been managed by the recipients.
After April 2013 the Council Tax Reduction Scheme resulted in discounts or reductions in the amount of tax to be paid. This affected the tax base depending on the number of people in receipt of the Council Tax Benefit. The alteration in the tax base affected the amount of the precept.
Each District Council had to make its own decision as to how it would implement the scheme in its own area with no certainty that the reduction in funding would be passed to Town and Parish Councils.
South Oxfordshire District Council did pass the funds received on to the Town and Parish Councils in the District for three years, as follows :-
2013-14£22,901.36
2014-15£17,590
2015-16£15,019.
With effect from the financial year 2016-17 the District Council decided not to pass funds received under the Council Tax Reduction Scheme on to Town and Parish Councils, but stated that they would use it to fund a grant scheme to which Town and Parish Councils could apply when looking for funding for specific projects or to prepare a Neighbourhood Development Plan. This decision meant that Berinsfield Parish Council had to increase its precept in order to obtain the funding it required to provide its services.
Berinsfield Parish Council
5th March, 2018