Budget
Each year, Hazlemere Parish Council carefully plans its budget to cover essential costs, support our community and maintain reserves for future needs. Here’s how we decide on spending:
- Essential Costs: We first set aside money for necessary expenses like salaries and insurance.
- Listening to You: We gather input from residents to understand what’s important to you.
- Reviewing Past Budgets: We look at last year’s spending to see what worked well.
- Setting Priorities: We decide on key projects based on community needs and goals.
- Creating the Budget: We draft a budget and review it in detail.
- Approval: The council discusses and approves the budget in a public meeting.
- Maintaining Reserves: We allocate funds to reserves to ensure financial stability for future needs.
- Ongoing Monitoring: We regularly check our spending to make sure it matches our budget.
This process ensures we meet essential needs, support the community effectively and are prepared for future expenses.
Council Precept
The Precept is a tax that Hazlemere Parish Council charges its local residents to cover its budget needs. Unlike some other local authorities, Hazlemere Parish Council does not get money directly from Central Government. Instead, it relies on the Precept and any additional income from services or facilities it provides. This Precept is collected alongside residents’ Council Tax payments and forms a crucial part of the council’s funding.
The Precept is the difference between Hazlemere Parish Council’s estimated income and its expected spending for the financial year, which runs from April 1st to March 31st. The Council must agree on a budget before setting the Precept, and both decisions require approval from the full Parish Council.
When determining the Precept, the council considers various factors:
- Current spending levels for ongoing services it provides like recreation facilities, lighting, cemeteries, insurance and the Parish Office.
- Costs of any planned additional spending or projects.
- Provision for contingencies and reserves.
- Anticipated income from services it offers such as rental income, allotment fees, burial fees, and grants.
Once approved, the Precept is added to residents’ Council Tax bills by the local authority (Buckinghamshire Council). Buckinghamshire Council then pays the Precept to the Parish Council in two instalments, typically in April and September.
It was resolved at the Full Council Meeting on the 9th January 2024 under item number FC05/01/24.4 that the annual Precept for 2024/25 be set for to Band D tax payers at £72.26. (No change from 2023/24)
CIL allocations
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is essentially a fee imposed on new developments by local authorities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to contribute towards the cost of infrastructure projects and improvements needed to support these developments, such as roads, schools, parks, and other amenities. Parish Councils may receive a portion of these CIL funds from their respective local authorities (typically 15% to 25%).
Parish Councils play a vital role in identifying and addressing the specific needs and priorities of their communities. When they receive CIL funds, they can allocate them towards projects that directly benefit the local area. These projects could range from drainage improvements to enhancing community facilities such as playgrounds or sports facilities.
The allocation of CIL funds to Parish Councils varies depending on factors such as the size and scale of development within the parish, as well as the policies and agreements established by the local authority. Some local authorities may have specific guidelines or criteria for distributing CIL funds among different Parish Councils, while others may involve Parish Councils in decision-making processes to determine how the funds should be spent.
Finance & Governance Committee
The conduct of the Parish Council’s financial affairs is governed by our Financial Regulations (these are currently being updated).
The Council’s Finance & Governance Committee overseas the financial business of the Council in accordance with the Council’s financial regulations, legislative requirements and guidelines and considers the financial implications of any matters raised by Council, committees and working groups.
Fees and Charges 2023 - 2024
This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .docx. Request an accessible format.