North Kesteven set to increase council tax by 2.68 per cent

The council tax levels will be debated and considered by North Kesteven District Council’s Executive Board on Thursday, February 8, along with wider financial and corporate plans for the coming years.

Councillors are recommended by the strategic finance manager to approve a 2.68 per cent increase in council tax for 2024/25, which is slightly more than the 2.76 per cent hike that was approved in North Kesteven last year.

This equates to a Band D property paying £189.45, £4.95 more than the £184.50 residents were paying in the 2023/24 financial year.

Also within the council’s financial plan is confirmation of a 7.7 per cent increase to council housing rents, which will start from April 1 after councillors voted in favour of this proposal at Full Council on January 25.

North Kesteven District Council’s budget shows gross expenditure of £54,953,200 and gross income of £35,201,700, giving the council a net general fund budget requirement of £19,751,500 for 2024/25, if approved.

This is over £200,000 higher than 2023/24’s budget requirement of £19,519,600.

It is a common theme among councils across Lincolnshire to propose council tax rises for the upcoming year, as councils on district and county level are faced with a variety of cost pressures.

An example of this is Lincolnshire County Council’s five per cent council tax increase, which cites £60 million of cost pressures from inflation spikes, £16 million of adult social care increases and a £6 million gap from National Living Wage boosts.

The county council’s highways department recently revealed it needs an extra £40 million a year of government funding to clear Lincolnshire’s backlogs on roads and footway repairs — following a 25 per cent reduction to the roads budget allocated to Lincolnshire County Council.

City of Lincoln Council has proposed a 2.92 per cent increase to council tax, while South Kesteven District Council suggested three per cent, South Holland District Council opted for 3.09 per cent and East Lindsey District Council’s verdict was 3.06 per cent.

As well as this, the Police & Crime Commissioners for both Lincolnshire and Humberside have recommended the near-maximum increases on council tax precepts for 2024/25.

If both are approved at next week’s respective Police & Crime Panels for both forces, Lincolnshire residents will pay £12.99 more and Humberside will pay £12.96 more.