South Kesteven Council approves 3% tax increase for 2024/25 budget

South Kesteven District Councillors have approved a 3% increase in their council tax precept as part of the 2024/25 budget.

The increase will result in a charge of £183.89 for Band D properties in special expense areas, an increase of £5.31. For properties outside these areas, the charge will be £171.81, a £5.22 increase.

The budget for the year was also agreed during a full council meeting on Thursday, where members also voted through a council tax base of 49,710.0 for the district.

This measure will see council tax income rise from £8.809m to £9.141m, a 3.8% increase of £332,000.

Council leader Ashley Baxter (Ind) told members: “[This year’s budget is] predicated on raising income through council tax.”

More stories like this delivered straight to your inbox every morning - sign up to The Briefing here

He later warned that any lower rates, while making savings for this year, would have a knock-on effect for the next few years.

During consultation by the authority, of the 792 residents who responded, 380 (48%) supported the rise, while 366 (46.2%) did not, with 46 unsure.

This increase comes alongside a 5% rise in Lincolnshire County Council’s precept, from £1,503.63 to £1,578.69, and a 4.4% increase in Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones's precept, from £291.24 to £304.20.

There was some concern about the setting of council tax after agreeing the budget.

Opposition councillors suggested lowering the council tax element by 0.5%, however, no official amendment was proposed.

Councillor Mark Whittington (Con) said: “This seems to be jumping the gun to pass the budget before we’ve discussed what the council tax rate is going to be for next year.”

He said a small reduction in the amount the precept would rise by would keep taxes as low as possible but only result in a reduction of £42,000 income which he said could be made from reserves.

During the same meeting, the council approved its overall budget, creating an overall General Fund position for 2024/25 was set at £18.521m.

Additionally, there's an increase in dwelling rents and shared ownership rents of 7.7%, and garage rents of 6.7%.

The budget debate itself saw an opposition motion to put £60,000 aside to clean the A1 voted through on the chairman’s vote, however, that side of the chamber then went and voted against the budget as a whole.