Issue - meetings

To recommend for approval to the special Council meeting on 6 February 2017 the budget for 2017/18 as updated following consideration at the Cabinet meeting on 10 January 2017.

Report of the Executive Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) providing relevant updates to the budget reports which were considered at the Cabinet meeting on 10 January 2017 (Minute 113 refers) so that the Cabinet had all the relevant information available when making a recommendation to the Special Council on 6 February 2017 on the budget estimates.

There were a number of developments since the draft budget was presented to the Cabinet meeting on 10 January 2017.  There were three changes which needed to be considered by the Special Cabinet before they were recommended to the Special Council for discussion. 

The first reflected changes to estimated business rates income.  The Hertfordshire business rates pool would be dissolved in 2017/18 as it was likely to make an overall loss following the results received from the 2017 business rates revaluation.  This would result in a loss of previously expected net income of £295,000.  However, other aspects of business rates income had been re-estimated, notably the level of Section 31 Grants the Council expected to receive.  The result was a zero net impact on business rates income in the 2017/18 budget.

The second change related to the Collection Fund estimate.  This showed a £122,000 improvement on the estimate considered on 10 January 2017 so a lower drawdown from the Resources Earmarked Reserve for this would be required in 2017/18.

The third change to the 2017/18 budget related to the pension fund triennial valuation combining the Council and Housing Trust into one scheme.  The recommended lump sum contribution option would involve minor changes to the budget estimates for 2017/18 through to 2019/20 as it was proposed that the major part of the impact would be taken as a revised lump sum contribution in the current financial year. As a result, the opening 2017/18 balances of the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account reserves were now estimated to be £6.9M and £9.9M respectively.

Taking all these changes into account, there was a minimal net impact on the estimates for 2017/18 and the estimated drawdown from the non-ringfenced General Fund reserve stood at £139,000 which was unchanged from the previous version.  There was however, a slight improvement in the overall estimates for 2018/19 and 2019/20 but the Council would still be required to find approximately £1.4M of savings in the medium term to balance the budget.