ADULTS living in Cirencester will each have to pay an extra £1.44 a year, following a 1.3 per cent rise in the town council’s budget for the next financial year.

Members of Cirencester Town Council voted unanimously in favour to increase the precept, the council’s share of the council tax, to £710,533.

The increases mean that residents living in a Band D property will have to pay £107.64 to CTC over the course of a year, £1.49 more than the current £106.15.

The decision was made at a special meeting held on Tuesday, January 21 in which members of the town council praised the budget.

Cirencester mayor Joe Harris described it as “good value for money” while Cllr Margaret Rickman hailed it “a prudent budget”.

Cllr Deryck Nash said that the1.3 per cent rise was reasonable in comparison to the national average of around four or five per cent.

He said: “I commend all those involved in completing the budget and I will be pleased to support it.”

The council’s total budget for the year 2014/15 is £840,550 with £65,000 allocated for projects in and around the town.

It was noted that while project expenditure had increased by £27,000, it was more accurate to say it had rose by only £17,000 due to the completion of the £10,000 tennis court project at St Michael’s Park last year.

Projects earmarked for the spending include a £1,000 upgrade to the town’s Christmas lights, £2,500 being used to restore the Amphitheatre and the £50,000 project to regenerate the town’s Market Place.

Salaries for the council’s community services department was increased by £26,100 to £54,500 – this rise was used to cover the transfer of the task officer from estate services and the inclusion of the youth information officer, which is now a fixed term position.

Cllr Joe Harris explained that the budget was reasonable considering the council acquired a number of services from Cotswold District Council including CCTV management and emergency planning.

He said: “This won’t please everybody but we have to look at the various things we have taken on in the last few years.”

Members also voted in favour of establishing a working group that would review the council’s accounts on an annual basis before setting the next year’s budget.