COUNCIL tax payers in Devizes will have to pay more for their services next year after the town decided it needs extra cash to cover costs for 2020/21.

A full town council voted that the rise for an average Band D property will go up from £159.71 to £176.11 a year from April.

This amount is collected by Wiltshire Council as a precept as part of the total council tax paid by people living in the county.

The rise in Devizes is equal to 10.27 per cent over the previous year. Last year the rise in the town council’s part of the tax was 3.86 per cent and in 2018/19 it was 7.5 per cent.

A number of services previously run by Wiltshire such as looking after markets, collecting rubbish from bins in the town centre and looking after play areas have moved to come under town council control.

An asset transfer of Devizes Market Place has been held up because an agreement has not yet been reached over parking.

Eventually the Market Place will come under control of the town but parking fees will still go to Wiltshire.

Town clerk Simon Fisher hopes the long running controversy over which area of the Market Place should be used for parking and which as a community space will be settled early in 2020..

The town council budget shows a need for £1,037,180 in 2020/21 compared with a total of £924,185 in 2019/20.

The town’s biggest earner is rent from commercial properties it owns. It is projecting a profit of £247,923 from this source next year.

Both the Shambles indoor market and the outdoor market are together expected to show a profit of £139,421 next year compared with a profit of £116,903 this year.

Mr Fisher said after the meeting: “Everything was agreed as it was on the agenda. It will provide sufficient financial resources for the services budgeted for and any additional services the Council it wishes to take on.”