Council tax: East Herts Council anticipates charging band D households £201.04 for its services next year

East Herts Council’s council tax demand for its services next year is set to top £200 for the typical household.

On Tuesday night (Oct 1) the authority’s Green and Liberal Democrat executive will meet to discuss the budget for 2025-26.

In March, the authority agreed to a band D council tax increase of £5.65, to £195.52, to pay for its services in the current financial year, 2024-25.

It is working on a 2.98% increase for 2025-26, taking the band D figure to £201.04, as the most likely scenario.

That base case assumes a freeze in Government grants, inflation of 2.5% on all major contracts, no inflation assumed for any other goods or services and a 3% provision for staff wage increases.

The council is also modelling an “optimistic case” where it is allowed to increase its precept by 4.98%, which would result in a band D rise of £9.72 to £205.24.

A “pessimistic” outlook anticipates grant declining year on year by 2%, which, based on inflation, would be a decrease of 5%.

The cabinet is warned: “This would leave the council with insufficient resources to meet its financial commitments.”

To balance its books for the coming years, the administration needs to identify £2m in further savings to stay in the black.

The current overall council tax demand for a band D home in Bishop’s Stortford is £2,200.66.

East Herts Council’s precept accounts for less than 10% of that total, with a similar share for the Herts police and crime commissioner to finance Hertfordshire Constabulary. Over three-quarters of the total goes to Hertfordshire County Council, with a small amount (£68.69) for the town council.