Cheshire East could borrow £32 million to contribute to council services
Cheshire East have made a forecast in their Medium Term Financial Strategy that they plan to borrow £32 million to spend on commercial property.
This would be used to help fund front-line council services by April 2020 as part of a plan to generate additional revenue.
Eventually this could contribute to lower tax bills for residents in years to come.
Cllr Paul Bates said: “The MTFS shows how difficult it is also going to be in years going forward in that those core, front-line services have to be protected. What we will look at is ways of investment that can relieve some of the pressure on the council tax payer in Cheshire East. That’s the whole point of doing this. We would like to be a low-tax authority going forward, and to do that councils have to be more business-like, and investment strategies are the way forward. We have to compete with the private sector.”
The council’s current investment portfolio is worth £7.9 million, with hopes it will be worth £40 million by next April
Other councils, such as Warrington, have tried similar approaches.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login