Council Freezes Budget

Hertford Town Council has frozen it's budget for the third year in a row.

The council's precept for 2012-13 will be £1,059,555, the same as the last and previous years.

Unlike District and County Councils, Town Councils are not required by the Government to freeze their portion of the Council Tax. In contrast to the larger councils, Town Councils do not receive any financial contribution to their running from the Government, so must raise their funding locally.

Chairman of the Finance, Policy and Administration Committee, Cllr Chantal Geall, said: "Good management of our finances has been a priority issue for Hertford Town Council, enabling us to freeze the Council Tax for the second year running. Our budget is a sensible one, maintaining good levels of reserves whilst spending money on services and initiatives to meet the needs of our town and its residents.

Projects and services to benefit from funding for the coming financial year will include a range of projects to improve the town's cemetery in North Road, support for the town centre, including continuation of the Town Development Fund and ongoing funding of the 62 hanging baskets.

The Town Council's popular events programme at Hertford Castle will be maintained, as well as continued support of the very popular allotments at six sites in Hertford, Hertingfordbury, and Bengeo.