Audlem's swollen Parish Council coffers

Audlem has about £56,600 in the Parish Council coffers, an increase of nearly 32% on last year's figure of £39,300.

Finance officer John Kemble told a Parish Council meeting that figures for the financial year to April 2013 had yet to be finalised but were accurate "give or take a few pounds". "We seem to have made a minor profit," he added.

But he warned councillors: "We do seem to be accumulating money. Perhaps we ought to spend some of it. It looks bad on our accounts in these straightened times."

Audlem Parish Council tax precept (the amount it collects from Council Tax bills) currently stands at £37,529, the 19th highest out of 116 towns and parishes in the Cheshire East local authority region – a table that includes large towns like Crewe, Nantwich, Congleton, Macclesfield and Knutsford.

The cash surplus means Audlem Parish Council already has more than next year's tax precept already in the bank with no confirmed capital projects to spend it on. It also means the council has effectively spent none of last year's tax precept and still has more than £17,000 from the year before.

Councillors do have a number of ongoing projects that drain the parish purse, including contributions towards the costs of running the cemetery and public toilets, but these are unlikely to make any major inroads into its swollen bank balance.

Audlem is however considering plans to adopt the village playing fields, tennis courts, children's play area and possibly the running the main village car park. A working group is expected to report back on these projects in the near future.

The cash surplus also leaves the council in a good financial position to fight controversial proposals to build 120 new homes on the outskirts of the village, should it wish to do so.

Councillors heard that considerable savings have been made on outgoings this year with substantial sums shaved off insurance charges and a considerable saving on the estimated costs of operating the public toilets.

Only last week councillor Mike Hill negotiated a deal that cut hundreds of pounds off sanitary products required each year to maintain the toilets, councillors were told.

But parish clerk Kirstin Dixon admitted that the council may have also mistakenly overcharged households in Audlem by £2,500 when imposing last year's tax precept.

"It appears we should have taken £2,500 off when calculating our rateable value adjustments. The rules are very complicated and difficult to understand. It seems that many other parish councils have also fallen into this trap," she told councillors.

Talks are continuing between Cheshire East and the Parish Council on how to resolve the tax adjustment issue.

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