Oakham Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis Says Rutland County Council are in a pickle over Council Tax 2013

Oakham Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis Says Rutland County Council are in a pickle over Council Tax 2013

That means he is in the slurry...

at the last meeting of 2012 at Oakham Town Council the Mayor during discussions about their
own budget for 2013 - 2014 said Rutland County council  "in a pickle with their finances"

It surprise me a man who has his head so far up the Chief Executives Rear End keeps saying such things
in public.

We all know how upset she and the Tory Mob and supporters are with him, after his council voted against
Sainsburys.Rutland County Council desperately need Tresham to sell the college site to some one so they can get their hands on the cash they will be due from the sale and  its not a gift as described by the Rutland Times which I guess prompted  Waitrose to pull out?

Oakham Town Council can not set their  budget for fear of capping and the new council tax changes that will
come into effect next year.

Dr Guthrie one of the few Town Councillors with a brain, suggested they could ask the County Council  for a deadline delay, this is the date the budget must be set and the precept demand present to RCC.
Dr Guthrie is currently doing a job unpaid, that the Clerk is currently overpaid to do.

Cllr Dewis explained to members the new complicated way council tax will be calculated. It did not make much sense.

The members were asked for suggestion to be included in the budget. A slight improvement on other years when they Clerk would just pick figures out of the sky and say it does not matter what heading the amounts go under because they can be moved around through out the year and that is what the council does. So the Budget is pointless.

Through out the evening Cllr  Joyce Lucas who is know locally by her own introduction as the ex Mayor concentrated on giving me the evil eye, not sure why might have been something to do with my protest
banner. Describing the Mayor and his supporters which includes her.

Cllr Charles Haworth,  suggested £3,500 to be used to electrify the storage hut in Cutts Close. He said £3,500 was not a lot of money.

Dr Guthrie said he objects to his suggestion and people could use generators.

Cllr Haworth has said when people use Cutts Close the tax payer should pay for the electricity, it does not
cost much. Well some one who lives at home with mum and does not pay bills would think that. He even manages to stretch his JSA to run a fast car.

Cllr Lucas had a good point not everything can be powered by a generator, such as a defibrillator.
They can also be mounted on lamp post and their are many in Cutts Close.

Then poor old Cllr  Dodds woke up, this caused quite a laugh amongst members as she asked
why do we need a light in the hut what goes on their at night?

It was good to hear Cllr Dodds admitting she takes her role as  councillor seriously, at various points
through out the meeting she admitted she had not read anything before the meeting. She abstained
from voting for this reason. If she was my councillor I would be asking a few questions about her
ability to continue. It is nice she has started to be honest as I have in the past been criticised for
pointing out she only opens the envelope and agenda at the start of the meeting.

Cycle  Bollards were mentioned £2,500 this was approved years ago the Clerk has never
bothered to order them despite Cllr Joyce nagging constantly about them.

The Clerk added £1,500 for the fence to be given to the New Gym that has already benefited from
a quarter of this years council tax.

Cllr Haworth then spoke for the Tourism Group.

He wants £400 for more pencils

£1000 for the late night Christmas Shopping 2013

£750 for display boards

£2000 for new heritage leaflet

£420 to attend with gazebos and hand out free pencils and stickers
at the bird fair. He did say they might not have room for them.
I say if Cllr Lucas and Cllr Haworth want to attend the Bird Fair
for free they should register to volunteer as stewards would save the
tax payer some cash. And who goes to the Bird fair to get a free
pencil from a nearby parish council.

£20 for Rutland day to do the same

£25 for Stamford Meadows fun day (why Stamford? poor Stamford what have they done wrong?)

£120 for the County Show (does Joyce no longer get invited freebie vip tent any more?)

He asked for £4,000 for 8 summer band concerts in Cutts Close.

At this point Cllr Haworth proved he could not add up. He said if you take away the £4000 for
band concert you were left with about £1,500 for the Tourism Work. He kept repeating the
wrong figure and then Clerk shut him up by saying its about £5,000 you need.

Then Cllr Lowe Deputy Mayor bravely suggested more money for Christmas Lights, also highlighting
once again how poor they are this year  it was pointed out £3000 had been added to this years figure of £16,000. He then said maybe we need more! No i say we need value for money and the responsibility needs
to be taken away from the Clerk. No one at the Town Council will explain how the same company used by
Stamford and when the same amount is spent the town ends up with a rubbish display.

that concluded the budget item