Agenda item

The Charter Trustees considered a report of the Treasurer that provided information on the actual expenditure compared to the profiled budget for the period ending 30 September 2017; and the forecast of expenditure to 31 March 2018 in comparison to the 2017/18 original budget (for copy see file of minutes).

The Treasurer reported that at 30 September 2017 actual net expenditure was £38,048, an underspend of £6,006 against the profiled budget of £44,054.

It was anticipated that actual expenditure at 31 March 2018 would be slightly lower than the original budget, therefore the sum required to be drawn from reserves to balance the budget would be expected to reduce from £11,962 to £4,510.

The Treasurer reminded Trustees that reserves had been utilized to maintain council tax at the same level for a number of years and advised that a report detailing further options for budget setting next year would be provided to a future meeting.

Councillor Hopgood asked that an option be included in the report to freeze council tax and utilise reserves for the remainder of the election cycle (2018/19 to 2021/2022).

Councillor E Bell requested that capital outlays be considered and use reserves to enhance the Mayoral position as a number of Mayoral items were in disrepair and in need of replacement. The Treasurer advised that Trustees set the budget every year and utilise reserves as they see fit. He welcomed any ideas that would be beneficial to the role of Mayor which could then be built into next years budget.

Resolved:

i)     That the outturn position for the period ended 30 September 2017 be noted;

ii)    That the forecast outturn to 31 March 2018 be noted.