NTC Service Costs 2011-12 Options

[Simon Kirby]

If you've just got your council tax bill as I have you might be interested to see how the Town Council's precept breakdown translates into actual service costs, and how those costs compare with last year.

CODE

2011-12 Service Costs       Cost      Increase
=====================       ========  ========
market                       £22,908  30.8%
floral displays              £26,363  64.7%
christmas lights             £44,280  -3.7%
cemeteries                   £81,394  -5.6%
administration              £179,169   3.9%
parks, open spaces          £254,804  -0.1%
, recreation grounds
allotments                   £38,393 -11.2%
town hall                    £61,429   4.2%
civic duties                 £54,647  -5.3%
committee expenditure        £12,030  27.3%
WBC toilets                  £18,301 -12.0%
neighbourhood warden scheme  £48,376  -0.8%
young people's council        £2,560 -50.5%
assets, war memorial,        £34,298  -5.5%
footway lighting, clock house
grants                       £37,114  10.7%
election expenses             £4,991   0.0%
                            £921,057   1.5%

[Sidney]

That's a lot of administration !!!

[NWNREADER]

Are those costs nett? I would imagine some of the heads have income that attaches?

[Simon Kirby]

Are those costs nett? I would imagine some of the heads have income that attaches?

Yes, these are the nett costs to the tax-payer. Here are the turnover and revenues:

CODE

                                nett     revenue   turnover  running   staff  
                                cost                         costs     costs
                                =======  =======   ========  =======   =======
market                          £22,908  £58,000    £80,908  £62,795   £17,838
floral displays                 £26,363   £2,300    £28,663  £20,527    £8,013
christmas lights                £44,280   £6,100    £50,380  £38,366   £11,832
cemeteries                      £81,394  £38,000   £119,394  £90,525   £28,430
administration                 £179,169       £0   £179,169  £79,800   £97,859
parks, open spaces,            £254,804   £4,461   £259,265  £219,178  £39,478
recreation grounds
allotments                      £38,393  £18,250    £56,643  £20,419   £35,674
town hall                       £61,429  £40,000   £101,429  £51,750   £48,924
civic duties                    £54,647       £0    £54,647  £16,950   £37,124
committee expenditure           £12,030       £0    £12,030  £11,220      £798
WBC toilets                     £18,301       £0    £18,301  £18,535     -£231
neighbourhood warden scheme     £48,376       £0    £48,376  £48,960     -£575
young people's council           £2,560       £0     £2,560     £500    £2,028
assets, war memorial,           £34,298       £0    £34,298  £20,750   £13,342
footway lighting, clock house
grants                          £37,114       £0    £37,114  £39,500   -£2,350
election expenses                £4,991       £0     £4,991   £5,090      -£97
total                          £921,057 £167,111 £1,088,168 £744,865  £338,085

How I reconstruct the figures: The Council publish the band-D nett service costs, and they also publish their nett spend - £916,867 of precept, £2,500 of investment income, and £1,690 sale of assets. From this you can get the nett service costs - for example, the total band-D charge is £71.97, and the charge for the market is £1.79, so the nett costs of the market is 1.79 / 71.97 * 921,057 == £22,908, plus or minus about £100.

The Council publish the service revenues so adding that to the nett costs gives you the turnover - so adding the market revenue of £58,000 to the nett costs gives the turnover of £80,908. The Council also publish the service runnings running costs, and if you take that away from the turnover what's left is the staff costs plus a bit of overheads mainly for the utility truck and public works loan board repayments - so taking away the £62,795 running costs for the market from the turnover gives £18,113, which is £17,838 staff costs - the Council publish the total staff costs and total overheads so that's how you know the ratio.

However, some of the figures don't quite add up, and that's creates some negative staff costs which is a bit silly. For example, the WBC toilets cost £18,301 according to the precept blurb, but the published running cost is £18,535, and that's silly because the nett cost can't be lower than the running cost when the service doesn't generate any revenue.

The grants anomoly seems to be because some combination of grant aid, CAB, Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Greenham Community Centre, Town Centre Partnership, Environmental Improvement Scheme, newbury carnival, Big Fat Society, K&A, and olympics/diamond jubilee is not a grant, but the anomoly pops up elsewhere if I move it around so it's just that - an anomoly - and if anyone would like to put me right I'd be obliged.

[Simon Kirby]

That's a lot of administration !!!

Isn't it just. And it's 3.9% more than last year.

[Andy Capp]

Isn't it just. And it's 3.9% more than last year.

That's how much dealing with you costs!

[Bofem]

That's how much dealing with you costs!

I hope Simon's up for a Civic Award from NTC this year for his services to local democratic accountability. <uh oh, here comes the panda troll>

[theone09]

CODE

2011-12 Service Costs       Cost      Increase
=====================       ========  ========
floral displays              £26,363  64.7%

That's A LOT of flowers! 64.7% increase!!

[Sidney]

That's A LOT of flowers! 64.7% increase!!

Yes ! so where are these flowers ?? Roundabouts and hanging baskets are sponsored by local businesses.

[blackdog]

Yes ! so where are these flowers ?? Roundabouts and hanging baskets are sponsored by local businesses.

Perhaps the big increase reflects a drop in sponsorship?

[dannyboy]

Perhaps the big increase reflects a drop in sponsorship?

Don't be so sensible.

[Andy Capp]

Perhaps the big increase reflects a drop in sponsorship?

Do they need to be maintained?

[dannyboy]

Do they need to be maintained?

Does any garden? Is this an allotment question?

[Andy Capp]

Does any garden? Is this an allotment question?

The point is, in the age of 'austerity', should we expect taxpayers to stump up the cost of a 'Newbury in bloom' contest? Would you buy more flowers for your front garden if you were concerned that you might not be able to meet your liabilities?

[dannyboy]

The point is, in the age of 'austerity', should we expect taxpayers to stump up the cost of a 'Newbury in bloom' contest? Would you buy more flowers for your front garden if you were concerned that you might not be able to meet your liabilities?

I'd argue that having a pleasant, botanically enriched town gets the punters in, stops the town looking like a wasteland & discourages ASB and keeps people employed.

[blackdog]

Don't be so sensible.

Sorry!

[Andy Capp]

I'd argue that having a pleasant, botanically enriched town gets the punters in, stops the town looking like a wasteland & discourages ASB and keeps people employed.

Yes, valid points, but my view is the businesses already have cast doubt on the value of the aesthetic worth of these items, by withdrawing sponsorship.

[dannyboy]

Yes, valid points, but my view is the businesses already have cast doubt on the value of the aesthetic worth of these items, by withdrawing sponsorship.

Nah, just tight shop keepers. Why pay for something you don't have too. Such as CCTV?

[Simon Kirby]

Perhaps the big increase reflects a drop in sponsorship?

No, revenue for the floral displays has been flat since 2008-09 when it dropped from the previous year's £5,750 to around half that.

The increase this year is because the running costs have gone up from £9.8k to £20.5k.

[Simon Kirby]

I'd argue that having a pleasant, botanically enriched town gets the punters in, stops the town looking like a wasteland & discourages ASB and keeps people employed.

What town are you thinking about there? Abingdon has a rather good floral display.

NTC withdrew from Britain in Bloom a couple of years ago after they did so dismally badly. Apart from the poor display, Britain in Bloom looks for community involvement, and NTC don't do community.