South Kesteven District Council weighs up Council Tax rise for 2025/26
Leaders are eyeing up two possible options for an increase in council tax for next year as they weigh up what to do about their budget.
South Kesteven District Council is considering increasing the charges for its portion of the bill by either £5 or by 3% ahead of the budget process 2025/26.
The two proposed options were discussed in a report presented to a joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday morning (January 14).
Raising council tax by £5 would generate an additional £330,000 in income, while the other option would raise an extra £354,000.
Presenting to the committee, leader Ashley Baxter (Independent) said that a balanced position for the next financial year could be achieved without "raiding reserves" and that various measures have been recommended to improve service delivery.
However, the outlook for 2026/27 onwards shows a deficit due to a change in business rates and alterations to the funding formula that will not benefit districts.
"As we know, the further out you look, the less predictable things are," said Coun Baxter.
He went on to note some unavoidable cost pressures currently facing SKDC, including an internal drainage board levy increase of £79,000 a year.
Coun Baxter also pointed out that charges in council car parks are due to change from Monday, January 20. The measures will see an overall price rise at short and long-stay car parks in Stamford and Grantham.
As debated by the environment overview and scrutiny committee in December, green waste service charges could also increase by £2. Currently, the garden waste collection service costs residents £51 per year for a first bin and then £42 for each additional bin.
There has been no change in the charge for bulky waste collection or market fees for traders, as part of efforts to encourage the success of street markets across the district.
The independent leader commented: "Putting up market charges at all is not a fight worth having."
South Kesteven District Council's cabinet is due to consider the proposed budget following feedback from today's meeting on Thursday.
A public consultation on the council tax options will begin afterwards. Responses will then be considered by the authority's cabinet at its next meeting on February 11.
Full council will then approve the council tax level and budget for 2025/26 on February 27.
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