COUNCIL tax bills in Tavistock will rise next year, with the town council setting a council tax precept of £175,000.
At a full council meeting on December 4, members approved an earlier committee recommendation that the tax level for the 2002/03 financial year, be set at £175,000.
Town Clerk Roger Howard said it was inevitable the precept would rise from last year's low level of £70,000 — at least half the normal level.
'Last year was a very special case. It is now getting up to the sort of rates it should be,' he said.
The precept is still short of the £210,000 figure Mr Howard said was required to balance the budget.
Two motions to raise the precept — first to £200,000, then to £185,000 — were proposed but both defeated in favour of the lower figure of £175,000.
The precept level had earlier been discussed at the finance and general purposes meeting on Tuesday, November 27.
Cllr Roger Mathew was in favour of keeping the council tax precept at £175,000.
'It's an adequate budget which secures all the things which the council wants to do.
'I'm entirely confident that we are not going to run short of money for what we need to do,' said Cllr Mathew.
Other councillors argued that the precept had to be raised to meet the costs of carrying out the town council's policy programme as well as maintenance of its valuable properties.
Cllr Pat Warne said the council had to take tough financial decisions to put its 'house in order'.
She said that unless the council charged a higher rate of council tax this year, it would fall behind, and would have to hike council taxes by a far greater amount in the following year.
'People expect us to be reasonable and sensible about it. I cannot believe that we are not going to be calling on more money. Let's be honest with people, we need that money,' she said.
A motion to raise the precept to £200,000 was proposed but defeated at last week's meeting.