THE budget for a council which doesn’t yet exist has been increased – costing Weymouth residents more.

An extra £30,000 will be added to the town centre manager’s £20,000 fund next year, which will mean an extra £1.65 on the annual Weymouth Town Council bill for a band D property.

Because the new council has yet to come into being its budget is being set by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

Chairman of the shadow town council Cllr Colin Huckle persuaded Thursday’s borough council meeting to add the extra £30,000 to the town centre manager’s budget arguing that the existing proposal was simply too low.

“The manager has coped this year by getting grants from other places but there are new bins and new signs needed and that work has got to continue,” said Cllr Huckle.

Most agreed with him – apart from Cllr Ian Bruce who said the town centre manager’s budget ought to be funded by the new unitary Dorset Council.

“The town council is already being loaded up with things traditionally done by a unitary council – let’s wait and see what the unitary will provide,” he said.

Backing the move Cllr Paul Kimber reminded longer serving councillors that the borough once set a budget which was too low: “In the end it caught up with us and we had to put the council tax up by 53 per cent,” he said.

The meeting formally approved the whole budget for the town council from April. It gives it £3,370,661 to spend which will mean a precept for the ‘average’ band D household of £185.69 for the year.

Cllr Ian Bruce warned that unless the new town council could quickly prove it was offering what he described as ‘great value for money’ it would find itself the subject of adverse public comment.

“I really do hope that it goes from strength to strength,” he said.