Dear Editor

In response to Mr Utting’s letter last week, the Town Council had total reserves of £283,204 as at March 31st 2016. However some £164,000 of this is Earmarked Funds, leaving a General Reserve (GR) of £118,500.

It is the GR which has been depleted in recent years when Budgets have been set to run at a deficit. The Council has been advised that this is not a viable long term policy and that the current GR is below the recommended limit for a Council with a budget the size of Ross’.

The budget set for 2016/17 had of course to take in to account the ending of the Council Tax Support Grant (which was due to be phased out anyway) but also the real cost of the Assets transferred from Herefordshire Council. These costs in some cases are considerably more than originally forecast. For example the ‘Asset Transfer Prospectus’ in 2014 said that the ‘worst case’ cost of acquiring the Wye Street and Redmeadow toilets was £20,000 whereas this year we have had to budget £44,000.

The main reason for the increase in this year’s budget is the additional cost of maintaining and running these assets yet this equates to less than 30p per week for a band D household.

This budget was not set ‘to fleece’ the residents of Ross but to enable the Town Council to continue to provide value for money services and amenities for residents and visitors alike.

Cllr Nigel Gibbs

Ross-on-Wye Town Council

Chair Finance Cttee