Readers may be a little confused by Lembit Opik’s response to your front page story about Powys County Council’s finances.
To get things straight - the council is not in debt! It balances its budget every year - as it has to do by law. But just as many households are having to plan for a future on a lower income, so the county council is having to look ahead and work out how to run services when it expects its income to be slashed by some £33 million over the next five years.
It’s not always realised that most of the council’s income comes not from council tax but from grants from central government - and those grants are set to fall drastically as Westminster and Cardiff try to plug the hole in their own finances.
That’s why the county council is already planning for lean years and hard decisions, and why residents are being warned of tough times ahead.
But, Lembit, a reduced income, however serious, is very different from being in debt!