Herefordshire 4.99% council tax rise confirmed

People living in band D households will have their charge increased by £7.80 a month

A 4.99% council tax increase, the maximum permitted, has been confirmed for Herefordshire from April.

People living in band D households will have their charge increased by £7.80 a month, totalling to £1,969.36 a year.

Herefordshire Council said it expects to spend £231.5m in 2025-26 - £146.5m of which will come from council tax payers.

Business rates are expected to bring in £47.5m, with various grants making up the rest, said Councillor Pete Stoddart at a budget meeting on Friday.

But he warned the council faced "unfunded pressures" totalling a further £27m in the year ahead, including additional demand on its services, chiefly adult social care, of £13m, and inflationary pressure of £10.5m.

In addition, £2m more is forecast to go on higher pay, with a further £1.5m from the recent increase in employers' national insurance contributions "having a direct impact on the council's pay bill", Stoddart explained.

Council leader Jonathan Lester said the tax rise was "unavoidable", adding: "We are able to fund further investment in roads, maintaining the freeze on parking charges, increase flood resilience, and progress with the project to deliver the Western Bypass, whilst balancing the budget."

Councillor Terry James backed the plan, pointing out the government had cut nearly £7m from the Rural Services Grant it previously gave Herefordshire to offset the costs of its rural nature.

"But we are in a better position than adjoining councils," he said.

The final setting of council tax, including "precepts" for local parishes, police and fire services, will be confirmed in March.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.