Council taxpayers told £1 in every £5 will go on repaying debt

Busting Myths on Debts and Bankruptcy | CHAI

Every November the York Councils Executive Councillors are asked to review its investment and borrowing strategy. A series of, what are termed, “prudential indicators” are published. They offer a guide for taxpayers on how their money is being managed.

Usually the item attracts little interest or comment.

This year may be different with todays national spending review likely to offer a guide on how the billions, currently being borrowed by the government to counter the pandemic, will be repaid.

The York figures do not include provision for the local impact of COVID.

The revenue budget does look set to take a £10 million hit next year with widespread cuts in services inevitable unless the government authorises an above average tax rise. Another option might be to allow Councils to borrow money to prop up day to day spending for a couple of years. This (unlikely) option would have an impact the Councils investment (capital) budget

But without that – and isolating the housing revenue account (which is funded from rents) – what is the current liability of York taxpayers?

The figures reveal that, from a starting position in 2016 when the authority needed to service £238,7 million of borrowing, by 2023 that liability will have increased to £338.7 million.

That is a 40% increase.

Should we worry?

The short answer is yes. The Council is required to make what is known as a Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) in its revenue budget to cover principal repayments and interest charges on its borrowing. The proportion has varied over the years but usually around 12% of current account expenditure has gone on servicing debt.

York Council debt trend

That is set to escalate to 21% by 2024.

That could mean less money being available for core services such as road repairs, caring for the elderly and disabled and keeping the City clean. Many non statutory services such as leisure could be hit hardest.

You can read what the Council says by clicking here

Looks like chickens are roosting

Still waiting for York Council to explain how recent land and building acquisitions, funded by borrowing, in the commercial sector will hit its bottom line against a background of falling rents.

To read the full article click here

NB. The Councils Facebook Q & A session earlier in the week failed to reveal anymore information about how the Councils supposed £24 million budget “back hole” has been calculated.

York Council debts set to increase by 31% over next 5 years.

19% of Council Tax income will go on servicing interest and repayment charges.

Under current plans, the debts of the York Council are set to increase from £293 million to £384 million by 2023.

The high repayment requirement means that less will be available to spend on basic public services in the City.

That represents a burden of £539 for every York resident.

Although the figures are within the legal limit placed on Council borrowing, several of the projects being funded have risks which could increase net expenditure.

The figures are included in a report to a meeting taking place next week.

Separately, the Council is being recommended to find £2.85 million to fund the purchase of an unnamed City Centre property. This is being described as a “Strategic Commercial Property Acquisition”.

While it is true to say that, in the long term, investments in City Centre land and buildings by the Council has in the past proved to be of positive value for taxpayers, the Councils recent record on asset management has left much to be desired.

The Willow House former elderly persons home building has been empty for several years while the high profile property at 29 Castlegate is in a similar position.

The Councils executive Councillors stubbornly refuse to consider, in public, asset management issues of this sort.

Over £576,000 owed in rates by York businesses

So which firms owe the York Council money?

It has taken long time, but we now know which companies haven’t paid their NNDR (business rates) in York during the last 3 years.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Council has listed 138 traders who have arrears of over £100.

Some have gone into administration while others have decided to repay debts gradually. In some cases, the bailiffs are being sent in

…and it must be said that no business is guaranteed to be a success. Times change, tastes vary and sometimes business do go under. Propriators can be taken ill, some even die.

That is the way life works so there will always be some bad debt.

….. but the total outstanding debt is now over £576,803 and other taxpayers must make up that deficit if public services are to be maintained.

So it is also important that lists of long term debtors are made public.

This allows residents to provide information on the whereabouts of business people and taxpayers who may have absconded. For many years the York Council did this routinely with some useful leads providing a way for money to be reclaimed from those who were seeking to evade their responsibilities.

In some cases, unscrupulous individuals were found to have amassed large arrears before going into administration and then setting up a new company with a similar name and providing much the same service. Often, they operated out of the same premises.

Now a new barrier to transparency has emerged.

The Council is refusing to divulge the names of companies where this may lead to an individual being identified. In some cases, these may be single traders operating under their own name.

The Council says, “some of the business names are names of individual’s and have been withheld as they are exempt under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), as they constitute personal information under the Data Protection Act (1998)”.

Hmm!

The names of some companies have, however, been revealed. This means that the names of their directors can be found simply be searching records at Company’s House (which can now be done “on line”)

The Councils position doesn’t entirely add up.

Debtor information like this was published as recently as 2013 by the Council.

They also take legal action to recover debts (essential before bailiffs can be used) and these preceding are not taken “in camera”. The information is in the public domain.

In this case we think that the public interest outweighs any right to anonymity and we will appeal against the Council’s refusal to provide the names of business owners.

In the meantime, the list of those debtors owing more than £100 is provided here.

No doubt the Councils finance department would appreciate any information about the whereabouts of any who may have absconded.

York Council debts mounting as housing borrowing plan pushes finances to the brink

By the end of the year the York Council will have debts of over £318.2 million, up £52 million compared to 12 months earlier.

Nearly 14% of taxes paid to the authority now go on interest and principal repayments on loans.

The authority owes £139 million in historic debt on Council housing programmes.

The overall exposure is partly offset by investment balances which stand at £75.7 million (down from £91.6 million in 2017)

Debts have increased because of several projects. One of the most expensive is York’s share of the Allerton Park waste processing plant. Money has also been borrowed to fund aspects of the York Central development.

The financial assessment is due to be discussed at a meeting later this week.

The same meeting will consider the Council’s policy on funding new housing.

Included in the plan is a proposal which would see the Council borrowing £10 million to fund the development of the Lowfields site. This means the Council will have housing debts of £145 million, close to the legal debt cap of £146 million.

The Lowfields proposal involves building on a sports field which will be controversial and may lead to legal challenges. A promised “start on site” early in 2019 looks optimistic.

There is also the problem of development expertise in the Council. It has a woeful recent project management record with cost escalations on several major projects including the Community Stadium and the refurbishment of the Guildhall.

Lowfields – Plan to build on sports pitches

There are some good features in the new housing plan, but the Council will be sailing very close to the financial wind if it accepts the officer recommendations without amendment.

The report fails to address the problem of unlocking disused Council land like the site behind the Acomb Library or private sector “land banks” like the prime location next to the Barbican.

It would be more than ironic if the planning committee was bullied into accepting the Lowfields plans which, green space provision aside, feature straight geometric lines of 3 bed semis – a discredited  layout abandoned by other Councils over 50 years ago

York Economic Development strategy report – the unanswered questions

A new economic strategy report is being discussed later this week. It is something of a curate’s egg of a document ranging from an awkward preamble about which of two scenarios we may see over the next 20 years (neither as it happens) followed by a series of rather familiar statements many of which have previously been trailed by the discredited “Big City” lobby.

Sadly, it is another document which is City Centre focused with little comment on the suburbs or indeed most of the existing major employers (retail, tourism, social care, education)

The strategy is right in several areas.City debt

York does need a higher proportion of well paid jobs. It needs “ambassadors” to promote what the City has to offer to the business world. It would be good news if more – well qualified and entrepreneurial –  students from local Universities remained in the City after graduation.

It is also time that progress was made on the York Central development (albeit not at the expense of local taxpayers).

A useful analysis of the present York economy is included.

The report is short on the consequences of what is a, faintly disguised, “Big City “ mind-set.  It says nothing about the assumptions made on the numbers of replacement and the number of additional jobs that need to be generated in the City.

These are the numbers that drive the Local Plan land allocations, not least in satisfying any demand for additional housing, as well as the impact that growth will have on transport and other infrastructure.

The report strategy is over reliant on borrowing money for investment (by the Council) which, it claims, would be repaid from the additional Business Rates generated by the new developments. This strategy conveniently forgets that successive governments have tinkered with the proportion of Business Rates that they allow local authorities to retain. There is no reason to assume that there would be a consistent approach over the next 20 years.

Local taxpayers could be left with an impossible debt burden (currently already circa £300 million)

It seems irresponsible to agree a new economic strategy just days before a new Draft Local Plan is due to be published.

Both complement each other and should be considered together.

Economic Strategy 2016

York Council’s debts still a cause for concern

The latest finance figures released by the York Council show that over 13% of the annual Council Tax paid by York residents is being used to pay interest charges on the Councils borrowings.

Debts Nov 2915

This equates to payments of £20.25 per person per year.

The worrying trend is in the net debts level of the Council.

This is forecast to increase from £245 million this year to £285 million in 2018.

 This figure which is concerning and reflects the fact that the present Council has yet to scrap some of the more extreme commitments that it inherited from the last Labour administration (e.g. the new swimming pool at Monks Cross, the “in house” development of the Guildhall annex site and the “bridge to nowhere” access for the York central site).

Crunch time for Council as officials recommend borrowing £7 million to spend on Guildhall project

Heritage Lottery Fund refuses financial help

Senior York Councillors are being recommended to let York taxpayers bear the bulk of the risk in a  new Guildhall office project.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Although the redevelopment has shed its pretentious “media centre” label – attached by the last Labour administration as they adopted a £9 million development scheme – the new project seems to be a case of the “Mayors new clothes”.

Little has changed as the rookie administration is asked to plunge the City further into debt. Each York residents already owes £1326 each  following previous Council decisions.

The Council have clearly failed to find a public sector partner who was willing to bear the financial risks involved in converting the complex into a “serviced office venue with virtual office and business club facilities”.

There is welcome news that the Councils traditional civic headquarters – the Guildhall itself and adjacent Council chamber – will continue to be publicly accessible.  Officials project income of £80,000 a year from these facilities although this is likely to be dwarfed by ongoing maintenance, energy and caretaking costs.

The project also incorporates a restaurant and café/bar.

The main criticism, of the new Council approach is likely to be that it has failed to test the market for the site. While for many,  retaining the historic building in public ownership was a “given”, the so called review process undertaken in the summer turned out to be little more than a cosmetic exercise. Despite the obvious access difficulties for commercial use, alternatives such as hotels or residential were neglected.

York Guildhall

York Guildhall

Apartments in the City centre are fetching astronomical prices and the offer of a river view would be irresistible for many. In Clifton Moor the owners of offices have found it impossible to let them. Ironically, many are now being converted into flats.

If the Council has to borrow £7 million to fund the scheme, then debt repayment costs of around £600k a year – for 30 years – will have to be paid. The recommended scheme generates only an estimated £362k in annual rental income and that assumes a high occupancy level.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has now formally turned down a request for a grant so that is one source of funding which has disappeared.

So York residents will be hoping that subsidies from the LEP and similar bodies will offset the burden.

Without them – and a lot of luck – the project could be a burden on generations of York taxpayers for decades to come.