Decision details

It was RESOLVED :-

·     To agree the final details of the Council’s proposed budget, as shown in Section 4 of Appendix 1 and Appendix 2;

·     To note the Section 151 Officer’s recommendation that the Council should maintain a minimum of £9.2m general balances;

·     To note the comments made by the Section 151 Officer on the robustness of the estimates made, as set out in Section 5 of Appendix 1;

·     To recommend a net budget for the County Council of £184.165m and resulting increase in the level of Council Tax of 9.50% (8.6% for Council Services and 0.9% for the Fire Levy) (£136.44 – Band D) to the full Council, noting that a formal resolution, including the North Wales Police and Town/Community Council precepts, will be presented to the Council on the 7 March, 2024;

·     That any minor differences between the provisional settlement and the final settlement be adjusted for by using the general contingency which is included in the 2024/2025 budget by making a contribution to/from the Council’s general reserves in order to set a balanced budget;

·     To authorise the Section 151 Officer to make such changes as may be necessary before the submission of the final proposals to the Council;

·     To agree that £250k be transferred to school reserves from the central education underspend in 2023/2024;

·     To agree that any unforeseen pressures on demand led budgets during the financial year will be able to draw upon funding from the general contingencies budget;

·     To request the Council to authorise the Executive to release up to £250k from general balances if the general contingencies budget is fully committed during the year;

·     To delegate to the Section 151 Officer the power to release funding from the general contingency up to £50k for any single item.  Any item in excess of £50k not to be approved without the prior consent of the Executive;

·     To confirm that the level of Council Tax Premium for second homes increases to 100% and for empty homes remains at 100%.