Boston Borough Council approves 2.99 per cent council tax increase for 2025/26

Councillors from the borough’s 15 wards approved the proposed budget during a meeting on Monday (March 3), setting the total bill for a Band D property at £223.65 per year – a £7.56 increase.

The council tax for a Band D property in the Boston Town Area Committee has been set at £81.09, rising by 72p from 2024/25.

Presenting the report, Coun Sandeep Ghosh, of the Boston Independent group, said: “Every year since I became finance portfolio holder, there have been challenges, and this year is no different, but with a different spotlight.

“Driven not by worldwide events, as we have previously seen, but by Government and policy changes. This means we are receiving significantly less Government support than in previous years with the removal of the rural services delivery grant.”

The representative for Witham ward argued that the Band D charge in Boston is ‘a fraction’ of what Lincolnshire County Council has approved – a 2.99 per cent rise, taking the Band D total to £1,625.85 per year – and ‘much less’ than the police and crime commissioner precept.

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones has proposed a £13.95 increase for 2025/26, bringing the total to £318.15 per year, which would provide £3.8 million more than funding in 2024/25. This increase was approved by the police and crime commissioner panel at a meeting in February.

Coun Ghosh also referred to internal drainage board levies as an ‘ever-increasing pressure’, noting a £102,000 rise for 2025/26, bringing the total bill to £2,927,050 – a 45 per cent increase since 2021/22.

Leader Coun Anne Dorrian, also a member of the Boston Independent group, previously argued that this was not sustainable, stating: “It’s just ridiculous.”

She also said that putting together the budget for the next financial year had been ‘extremely challenging for Boston’, citing rising costs, including contract expenses.