Although the Mayor promised
A rigerous examination of all the budgets will be carried out during 2009, with discussions to find the balance of "Service to the Town" with "Individual Costs"
The discussions will include deciding which if any of the services provided, especially if used by only a small minority should be run on a more commercial basis.
It seems that little thought is being given to budget planning process. In most instances a simple percentage increase is being proposed.
Again one area stands out and disproportionately expensive to the Town's tax payers.
The income from the Tennis & Bowling Club stands at less than £1500 per year, yet running costs exceed that by a considerable margin.
In addition to the 'usual' expenses the Council are considering paying upwards of £1,000 to clean and repair the Tennis Courts, £1,200 for addition work on the Bowling Green, £2,000 for rewiring the Pavilion.
Due to the way the Council prepares and presents their accounts it is impossible to directly calculate the playing subsidy but a 'back of the envelope calculation' is that a £2 game of Tennis next year could cost the Council £15 in subsidies.
Whilst it would be unacceptable to charge the users £17 a game, I believe that this subject needs to be given more consideration than just up increasing the budgets by 2%.
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5 comments:
It's £110 a year for tennis club membership in Ludlow, what does it cost in Tenbury?
And there's all the money from non-members paying by the game.
Should be an earner for the Council if run in a businesslike manner.
The clubs - or the council - could apply for grants. Grants are available for community/sports activities/facilities - as has been shown by the grant obtained for the skatepark. Presumably these have been applied for, for tennis and bowls as well as for the skatepark, so why were the bids for tennis and bowls unsuccessful?
I think the Town Council charge about £35 a year to use the Tennis Courts at any time, (Only 1 person has paid this) or £2 a game.
They charge the Tennis Club about £500 a year. I don't know how much it is to be a member of the Tennis Club or Bowls Club.
The Council hope to apply for a grant to re-roof the Pavilion as this is likely to cost £15-£20,000.
Since a large proportion of council members are users of some of the sport and recreational facilities in the town, I somehow can't see them increasing charges to a reasonable commercial level.Whilst I agree that some subsidy is necessary it should not fall on the rest of Tenbury's townfolk to pick up the shortfall to this extent.
Why should I subsidise other people's tennis and bowls? They don't subsidise my Squash!
It's a good point, but I guess most Council subsidise various sporting facilities, and it's the luck of the draw, what is supported where you live. I guess you don't play squash in Tenbury. (I think it is/was subsidised by the Council in Droitwich for instance)
I accept that sporting facilities will be subsidised, but I would like those decisions to be made taking into consideration the full facts.
As far as I can tell, the Cllrs have no idea by how much they are subsidising each sport (Football, Rugby, Tennis & Bowls) or if they do know, it's a very closely guarded secret.
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