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Local Council Income Tops a Million
(August 24, 2020)Well over a record £1 million pounds of income that Warminster Town Council receives is currently open for their electors to take a look and say their piece.
A deadline has just over a week to run with an independent annual auditl underway which ends on the Tuesday 8th September.
Each year there is a review of their spending from April to March and everything from bills, books, contracts, deeds and vouchers can be looked at and copied by others as well including those with commercial interests and journalists.
Thirteen town councillors have taken decisions that spent over a third of their income on staffing costs and almost the rest on their general expenditure.
The elected councillors every four years, with some replacements at by-elections, sign off on many cheques including those to local groups including some reaching four figures.
The town council are widely respected for the way they have taken on the challenge cash-strapped Wiltshire Council gave them the Lakeside Pleasure Gardens (town park) in Weymouth Street saying they could no longer run them.
The budget has a sizeable sum set aside for further responsibilities including play areas.
The councillors are now being recommended to cancel contracts and carry out more work with their own staff.
A tick box exercise by the council about how they have run their finances was signed off by the Mayor councillor Chris Robbins one month ago during the continuing pandemic
A request to the town council Clerk who is also the chief financial officer has to be made to take a look at the financial figures.
Any questions that need to be raised should be raised with her first, and then if not satisfied, taken up with the appointed representative from Canary Wharf in London.
The town council offices are now open again with Covid-19 guidelines being followed.
All smaller councils have to open their books in the same way locally.