Narberth Town Council has increased its budget by £8,500.

This means an increase of 14 pence per week for Band D households.

At a recent meeting, the clerk, Mrs. Caroline Coaker, worked through the precept calculation for 2017/18 as agreed by the finance committee and presented members with a copy of the report showing how the precept figure was obtained.

Main reasons for the increase are clerk’s salary - the clerk’s weekly hours have been increased from 15 to 20 per week in order to cover the current workload.

Deputy Mayor’s allowance - this is a new budget head to reflect the £500 allowance proposed by the Remuneration Panel for Wales.

Members allowance - this is also a new budget head to reflect the £150 allowance per councillor proposed by the Remuneration Panel for Wales. Therefore for Narberth’s 12 councillors, the total is £1,800.

Christmas lights - the budget for the Christmas lights, along with the energy costs, is increased by £1,250 in order to cover the identified work for next year’s festive supply at High Street, as new lampposts will be installed by the county council which will necessitate the purchase and fitting of new units.

Training - this budget head has been increased to allow for the training needs of the new councillors and has been set at £500.

Environment improvements - the budget line has been increased by £700 to reflect last year’s charges.

Specific donations - the specific donations has been increased to £7,800.

Contingency fund - the contingency fund has been increased by £250 to cover any unexpected shortfall in contractors’ tenders for this year and unforeseen costs in relation to the town council having to take over more amenities from the county council.

On a proposal by Clr. Harding, which was seconded by Clr. Meredydd and agreed by full council, the budget was set at £57,000. The 2017-18 budget was £48,500.