Town councils sat on growing reserves, say auditors

Town councils raise money from a precept added to council tax bills

Town councils raise more money than they spend and most are sitting on growing financial reserves, it has been revealed.

Last year, 197 councils increased or maintained their part of council tax, even though they had money left over from the previous year.

The Wales Audit Office called on them to "get a grip on financial management".

The number found to have problems with their accounts also doubled to 340.

Auditor General Adrian Crompton said: "Year after year, my auditors are uncovering deficiencies at town and community councils across Wales and the situation is worsening. This cannot continue."

Wales has more than 730 town and community councils.

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Some are only responsible for the upkeep of town and village halls, but others also look after footpaths, cemeteries, parks and clean streets.

Most of their income comes from a precept that is added to council tax bills, although they can also charge fees for some services and sell land.

They spent £47.4m in 2017-18, but had an income of £48.5m.

That means the reserves in their bank accounts rose to £38.7m by April 2018.

Adrian Crompton said his auditors are finding deficiencies at town and community councils "year after year"

A Wales Audit Office report warned councils not to "add unnecessarily to the burden placed on council tax payers" by raising tax more than they need to in a time of austerity.

It also said a significant number of councils fail to comply with their responsibilities to prepare annual accounts properly.

"Too many" audits were not completed because of delays and eight councils had such serious problems they were required to make specific improvements," it added.

They included councils failing to manage their clerks properly, incomplete accounts and a lack of payroll records.