If savings from cost-cutting plans such as charging for parking on Aberystwyth promenade and closing Tregerddan care home in Bow Street are not pushed forwards, residents could face a two per cent rise in council tax on top of any annual hike next year, a Ceredigion County Council Cabinet report warns.
While Ceredigion residents were hit with an 11.1 per cent rise in council tax from April, further inflation busting increases from next year cannot be ruled out, despite the council stripping services in a bid to find more than £5.8m in savings for 2024/25.
The report says: “The 2024/25 budget included £5.8m of savings across approximately 70 different items.
“56 items totalling £4.1m (71 per cent of the savings) are either fully complete or fully on track, leaving 13 items totalling £1.7m (29 per cent of the savings) either partly on track or not on track as yet.”
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Of the 13, two of the most “significant” savings and income generators, the report outlines, are the closure of Tregerddan care home in Bow Street with staff and residents moved to Hafan y Waun and introducing charging for parking on Aberystwyth promenade.
Those savings have been baked into the budget despite not being fully signed off.
The report says that in a “worst case scenario”, the budget will slip by £900,000 in the first three months of the year – on top of an already predicted deficit of just over £100,000.
“A part year effect and/or some level of slippage can be accommodated through one-off in year mitigation, however if any savings item reaches the point where it is determined as not achievable or implementable at all either in full or in part, then this will create a base budget issue which would require correcting as part of the 2025/26 budget process.
“Each £450,000 equates to approximately one per cent in Band D Council Tax terms.”
That would mean a two per cent rise for residents on top of annual increases if the unrealised savings reach £900,000.
The report says: “At the quarter 1 point in the year the financial position continues to be challenging, which is no surprise given the difficult budget setting process and the resulting in year delivery of savings required.
“At this stage a projected overspend is forecast for the year of £101,000 on the Controllable Budget. “However, this excludes certain risks in relation to the delivery of in-year savings.”