LISKEARD Town Council's precept is to rise by 4.25 per cent for 2005 and 2006. The subject was discussed at Tuesday's town council meeting, where some councillors expressed the opinion that there was no need to be a rise in the town's precept figure. Cllr Roger Jones said that money could be taken out of the council's reserves which would allow the precept to remain the same as last year. He said the council had reserves of more than £130,000 and a sum of £12,000 from that amount could be used to keep the precept down. He added that the council's reserve sum was more than suggested by the Audit Commission. 'We've got so much in reserves that it would be totally wrong to take more money away from the tax payer,' he said. 'The town council should set an example of prudence.' In response, the deputy mayor cllr Nick Mallard said that he saw the reserves as being at the 'bottom end' of the suggested amount. 'We are actually in line with what the Audit Commission expects and shouldn't take funds any lower.' Opposition to the idea also came from Cllr Roger Holmes who said that Liskeard was different from many other town councils in that it owned a large number of properties. The proposal to take £12,000 from the reserves and reduce the proposed precept was defeated by nine councillors to six. A new proposal to accept the town's latest calculations without taking money from the reserves was passed in a named vote.
