Toilets and Christmas Lights

No, not Christmas lights IN toilets!

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council today opens a consultation for residents to have their say on how it meets the costs of public toilets in Tonbridge and Christmas lighting across the borough.

While most services provided by the council are funded on a borough-wide basis through the council tax paid by residents, in some areas an additional sum is added to bills to pay for particular services which largely benefit those areas.

These adjustments, or ‘special expenses’, are currently used to fund things like local parks, playgrounds, and allotments. It’s seen as fairer as residents are not asked to pay for facilities outside the areas where they live.

The council now proposes to add public toilets in Tonbridge and Christmas lights to the list of services that are funded locally via special expenses.

The combined estimated impact on council tax bills of these increases and reductions would mean that, except for Tonbridge and West Malling, the proposals would result in a slight reduction in council tax bills. Residents of Tonbridge and West Malling would see a small rise in their council tax bills, as they mainly benefit from the additional services provided.

Cllr Martin Coffin, TMBC’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Innovation and Property, said:
“We want to make sure that charging for additional services which benefit some parts of the borough more than others is as fair as possible. These changes would mean bills are more closely aligned to the provision of public toilets and Christmas lights where they are provided.

‘We are genuinely interested in hearing what residents have to say about these proposals and hope as many people as possible take the opportunity to share their views. It’s also worth emphasising that the consultation is about how these services are funded and not whether they are provided.”

Residents can have their say about this proposal here

The deadline for responses is 5pm on Tuesday 20 July.