THEY went to the wire, but Teignmouth town councillors finally agreed a precept on Tuesday evening, just in time to meet the extended decision deadline of February 3.

The precept demand should have been lodged with Teignbridge Council by January 13.

After several acrimonious meetings over four weeks, that lasted a total of nearly 15 hours, members of the finance and general purposes committee voted seven to five for a precept of £134,100 for the financial year 2004/05.

Under the proposals, drawn up by committee chairman Cllr Fred Tooley, and seconded by Cllr David Cox, a Band D household will pay 48p per week or just under £25 per annum, an increase of 6p per week, or 14.9 per cent.

An amendment from Cllr Roy Phillips, and seconded by Cllr Vince Fusco, that would have given a precept of £120,640 for the year – a four per cent increase, or just under 2p per week on a Band D household – was defeated by seven votes to five.

Cllr Tooley said that the precept demand had to satisfy two objectives. It had to be affordable to residents, and it had to take into consideration 'the desire to provide and improve the service that we as the town council can provide on a local basis to ensure the town's future social and economic status.'

An original 'wish list' had been drawn up, including items such as CCTV, keeping the Point toilets open, decorative lighting, and grants to events such as the International Arts Forum and the Hornet sailing championships.

These had been discussed on a line-by-line basis, and many savings had been made.

Cllr Tooley said that the agreed precept would allow the council to conduct its business in a cautious but progressive manner.

'Teignmouth has a history of keeping its precept demand on the council tax to the lowest possible level,' he said. 'When compared to with other larger towns and parishes in the Teignbridge district, Teignmouth has by far the lowest precept per Band D dwelling.'

Cllr Phillips disputed this last statement, and said that Dawlish town council had come in with a 1.5 per cent increase, and Newton Abbot with a 5 per cent rise.

Cllr Chris Whitlock, who voted in favour of the defeated amendment, said that councillors had to ask themselves what the increased precept would be used for.

'Is it only a way to increase the reserves that have been severely depleted over the last few years, leaving it to newly elected councillors to sort out?' he asked. 'Previous councillors should take responsibility for their badly thought-out proposals.'