Council tax payers will foot the bill
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Sir, – £7.6 million underspend by Moray Council. I was pleasantly surprised to read the headline in Joe Millican’s excellent article(s) last week regarding Moray Council’s finances, that "as a result of sweeping cost-cutting measures", Moray Council’s 2010-2011 budget showed a £7.6 million surplus in the financial year just ended. The amount "far exceeded the £4 million underspend predicted at the end of the third quarter", the chief financial officer is quoted as saying.
Many Council Tax payers – whilst welcoming such good news – might be forgiven for treating this announcement with some caution. Indeed, the article(s) would indicate that quite a number of our elected councillors would also appear to have differing views on the surplus! Their possible caution could be as a result of the previous recent history of their finance department, details of which I give below.
In your newspaper of July 31, 2009, an article appeared highlighting a budget overspend in the cost of the Reiket Lane bridge of some £1.1 million. More recently, your reporter Sarah Rollo wrote of her having had to point out to Moray Council finance department that their published figures on proposed savings during the year 2010-2011 did not add up! The astute (and obviously highly numerate!) Sarah returned on the erroneous figures to Moray Council for correction. They were ‘corrected’ and returned to the eagle-eyed Ms Rollo ... only for her AGAIN having to point out to Moray Council finance department that the "corrected" figures still did not add up!
Perhaps partly due to the reasons given above, many readers (and members of the electorate) will sympathise with the understandably differing views of some councillors as expressed in last Friday’s article(s). Those councillors, in turn, might therefore be able to understand the misgivings felt by many of your readers (their electorate) who also find the "surplus" story hard to swallow – except when taken with a very large pinch of salt! Particularly when the recent history of the Moray Council finance department budget forecasts is closely scrutinised.
The reason given for the budget surplus is "sweeping cost-cutting measures". This seems to be at odds with the prodigality being shown by Moray Council with regard to their own projected office and staff facilities. In recent months they have agreed to spend almost £500,000 annually on staffing a new telephone information centre, £750,000 plus repairs, renewals and running costs on about 100 new vehicles for the use of staff, as well as £4 million on new offices! They also have spent about £235,000 on a private house situated on Wittet Drive. To these sums we must not forget to add the millions which the council have spent on "consultants’ fees" – on our behalf! – Say’s who?
The projects mentioned above seem to hold great importance to Moray Council. They would probably argue that they are "much needed investments for the future benefit and convenience of tax-payers". Surely cleaning and staffing public toilets would be a greater "convenience" – and a greater "need".
A recent article and letters to your newspaper would seem to indicate that to be the case. Council Tax payers themselves might argue that only when expenditure is for the benefit of council employees is the council suddenly flushed with money! Little evidence of "sweeping cost-cutting measures" and austerity in their own back-yard is being shown by Moray Council – on our behalf?
More importantly, what will the final cost of the new Moray Council offices be, given the recent budgetary record of their finance department? We have been told by elected councillors via this newspaper that the cost to Council Tax payers will be £4 million. Is this an accurate figure?
Better still – let’s hope the estimate of £4 million is an over-estimate by (say) £2 million, making the final cost a mere £2 million. This would be far better than it being under-estimated by (say) £8 million, making the final cost on completion and fitting etc, around £12 million! We all await the final answer with baited breath.
Regardless of the answer, the long-suffering Moray Council Tax payers will again have to foot the bill to fund the profligate ways of Moray Council at a time of world-wide austerity. Their views and concerns will go unheard, unheeded and ignored as they watch more and more of their hard-earned money being flushed down the (blocked) drains to be consigned to the (inadequate) sewers – as highlighted only too well during the rainstorms of the past few days! –Yours etc,
A Murray-Mann!
