An 8 per cent increase in the precept paid by residents in Whitby would leave the town council with a surplus of just £5 going into its general reserves, under new budget proposals.
The plans for the coming year in Whitby are set to be decided at a full meeting of Whitby Town Council tonight.
Updated projections for the council’s annual budget would require the authority to raise its precept by 8.52 per cent in order to add just £5 to its general reserves at the end of the year.
The £5 would be the residual surplus after income and expenditure, while the budget also includes around £20,500 of proposed contributions into earmarked reserves for future projects and elections.
Councillors were set to approve the annual budget last month, but a decision was postponed over concerns about the financial plans.
The earlier draft budget for 2026/27 proposed a precept increase of between 3.2 per cent and 5 per cent, which would have raised between £588,300 and £595,300.
However, the updated projections state that an inflation-linked 3.4 per cent increase would raise £578,000, leaving the authority £20,000 in the red, while a 4.99 per cent increase would raise £584,000 and leave the town council £14,200 in deficit.
The highest proposed precept increase of 8.52 per cent would result in a Band D equivalent charge of £74.53, a £0.11 weekly increase, which would raise an estimated £598,700.
The current predicted annual expenditure is £598,695, which would allow the authority to add £5 to its general reserves.
The previous draft budget predicted an annual revised expenditure of between £569,000 and £587,445.
Compared to the new budget, this is a forecast increase in expenditure of more than £11,000, alongside reduced income.
A report prepared for the council states:
“The proposed target general reserve figure for Whitby Town Council is three months, which, based on the 2025/26 projected outturn would be approximately £92,000.
“Based on the [highest] option, the proposed target reserve would be approximately £99,000. The projected outturn contribution to general reserves at the end of the 2025/26 financial year is £114,973.31.”
Whitby Town Council has been previously told by auditors that it had insufficient cash reserves, and last year’s budget said
“it would be sensible to add £170,000 to reserves in the next three years to bring reserves to £200,000 or approximately 40 per cent of turnover”.
The report adds:
“It is also proposed to create a new earmarked reserve within the 2026/27 budget to start accruing funds for the Town Council’s contribution towards the 2027 elections, which have been estimated by NYC to cost between £10,000 and £15,000.”
The 2026/27 council tax base for the town is 5,885.71 Band D equivalent households, according to North Yorkshire Council.
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