SO here it is again, the customary time when our councils begin outlining their plans for the financial year ahead - and spell out how much it will cost us.

At first glance Otley Town Council’s - or more accurately, the controlling Labour group’s - proposed budget for 2015-16 seems to include a rather nasty sting in the tail, in the form of a £27,000 rise in the local precept.

A 9.4 per cent jump in the amount householders will have to pay sounds a lot, by anyone’s standards, especially at a time when many of us are either still enduring long pay freezes or have only recently enjoyed very modest rises.

But the way figures are presented, as politicians of all stripes know only too well, can sometimes be misleading - and focusing instead on how much extra most people will actually have to pay this year, about £5.40 for Band D households, paints a much less dramatic picture.

Nevertheless, no-one likes rising bills and so the onus is on the town council to prove, as Councillor Carl Morris claims this week, that the new precept does indeed represent “excellent” value for money.

It is obviously true, despite the predictable party political carping, that the current council has achieved some significant achievements for the community during its four-year term.

Such ventures all, of course, cost money - and in terms of the Core Resource Centre and the toilets, substantial sums that will need to be paid annually for years to come.

Ultimately it will be up to residents to decide if the council, which will debate and vote on the new budget next week, has got the balance between costs and benefits right.