Exeter City Council has set a balanced budget for the year ahead after the challenges and opportunities facing the authority were outlined during a budget-setting Council meeting.
Council Leader Cllr Phil Bialyk introduced the measures by saying the city faced tough choices in reducing its budget by £3.5 million.
Cllr Bialyk said: “This year we had to find reductions of £3.5 million, which is a lot of money.
“Exeter sets one of the lowest council tax rates for a district council in the country. Only £185 a year for an average band D property goes to the council. We are putting our share up by £5.39 a year.
“From the bill that falls on the mat for homes in Exeter the city council only takes £185, the rest goes to Devon County Council the police and the fire service. Only a small proportion comes to Exeter.”
Cllr Bialyk said car parking charges will need to increase after two years of price freezes in Exeter.
He said: “We have to put car parking charges up. For a two-hour stay in a city centre car park from April the charge will go up by around 32p, and we will be consulting on this.
“We are not going to introduce emissions charges in our car parks – not everyone can afford an electric car.”
A temporary car park will be created at the site of the former bus station ahead of its future redevelopment, with revenue generated funding the Council’s Net Zero budget.
Cllr Bialyk said an agreement had been reached to offer free office accommodation to Citizens Advice Exeter.
A consultation with users will shortly be held on the future of Northbrook Swimming Pool.
He said: “We continue to invest heavily in leisure, including St Sidwell’s Point and Riverside, because again, we know how important these are. We have 12,000 members of our leisure service.
Council sets balanced budget and protects services important to residents – Exeter City Council News
“But we are going to consult on the future of Northbrook Swimming Pool. It is poorly used and run down, and we now need to consult and discuss the alternatives with users.”
Cllr Bialyk said decisions in the budget were shaped in part by the consultation recently carried out with residents.
He said: “We have to provide statutory services, like emptying the bins – and 99.9% were collected on time last year – but we also run discretionary services like the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and our leisure services.
“We invest heavily in RAMM and it is a great free place to visit. It has been suggested that charges could be made – but we are not going to do that. We could have cut it all together – but we will not do that because we know how important it is to the city.”
He added: “We consulted with residents ahead of the budget and listened to what they had to say. We have tried to balance the budget in a way that ordinary people do not pay a big price and that the services that are important to our residents are maintained.”