The work that your Parish Council does for the village is largely financed by raising a precept/levy via the Council Tax on all 126 properties in the village. The amount varies from year to year and depends upon what needs doing, how much grant aid we can obtain, interest rates pertaining at the time (affecting the income from the reserves) and even the variable income from the paper bank (this can actually reduce the Council Tax cost by up to £1 per household).
All Parish Councils are subject to official audit and come under new government regulations which are a fairly arduous regime for a small village. Our current auditors, determined by the Audit Commission, are Lubbock Fine based in London.
The accounting year is to the end of March and a presentation of the accounts is made to the Parish Council by the Clerk as soon as possible after that date. In any event a summary of the financial situation is presented to the Annual Village Meeting even if the full accounts are not made up by that date.
Budgeting for the following financial year is normally done in the Autumn and the final budget agreed at the October/November Parish Council meeting. St Edmundsbury Borough Council are then informed as to Cowlinge’s precept requirements in order that maximum benefit may be obtained from all available grant aid.

Village organisations requiring funds

Any village organisation that needs assistance is advised to inform the Parish Council at the earliest opportunity in order that it may be included in the budget. However, life is not always like that and the Parish Council has reserves to cover contingencies.