Interest On Debts Grow Without Rain

In our blog Do you feel safe now?  we posed the question

“With a track record like this in Business do you the residents of Shepway feel safe now, knowing that Cllr David “Drury” Monk is in control of the Council’s budget?”

Since the local Tory Party have had control of our council the debt burden has significantly increased year on year. No other local elected administritation, Lib Dem or Labour has ever ran a debt level as large as the Tories.

In 2014 SDC’s debt burden stood at £62.9 million in 2015 it was reduced by just over half a million pounds to £62.3 million. The authorised debt limit is £66.7 million. One has to pay interest on one’s debt and that has increased from 3.82% to 3.83%. Not a lot we here you say.

What these percentages mean in real cash terms are that in 13/14 SDC Interest Payments on their debt was £2,386 ,000 in 14/15 this rose to £2,400,000. This is money we believe which could be used for frontline services, but alas is not possible as the debt interst must be paid

Now we know the local Folkestone & Hythe Cnservative association were running large debts, 5 figure numbers and had to sell the Family Silver, so have little money set aside for a rainy day.

Cllr Monk and his 21 other colleagues who control SDC belong to the National Tory Party as well. These are people who say we must live within our means. It would appear what they preach and practice are two different things. Is that unusual for a politician/s? Also we know a financial storm is coming this year, but we simply do not know when. Markets are jittery and volatile and Cllr Monk and his colleagues have  a little room to extend the debt by a further £4.4 million. Which we think they will do to keep council tax down over the next 4 years. So again we pose the same question.

Do you as residents feel safe knowing that under the Shepway Tories we have the largest ever recorded debt burden in SDC’s history and that the man leading it – Cllr David Drury Monk – has a record in business which is not great, to say the least, should be in charge ?

We believe that you the residents of Shepway deserve a party which understands financial management and can reduce our debt levels and even create a surplus. However we do not believe that the Tories are the right people locally to do that. What do you think?

Shepwayvox