Council tax set to increase in Bristol
Annual budget papers are expected to be approved next Tuesday
Council tax is set to increase by an average £87.74 a year for Bristol residents from April – taking Band D property bills to £1,846.02 a year.
The 4.99 per cent hike comprising a 1.99 per cent general rise plus a three per cent precept to pay for spiralling costs of adult social care is the maximum allowed by the Government without a local referendum.
It has been revealed in Bristol City Council’s 2021/22 annual budget papers set to be approved by cabinet next Tuesday (January 26) as a recommendation to full council on February 25.
Bills will go up by £58.48 to £1,230.68 for residents in the cheapest Band A homes, by £68.23 to £1,435.79 in Band B and by £77.99 to £1,640.91 in Band C.
Band E householders’ council tax will increase by £107.22 to £2,256.24, B and F by £126.73 to £2,666.47, Band G by £146.22 to £3,076.70 and the most expensive Band H by £175.47 to £3,692.04.
The rises will give the local authority more than £236million to spend from council tax on services, such as libraries, waste collection and street lighting, in the next municipal year – £10.1million more than the current year when reductions to the amount of households expected to pay are taken into account, mostly because of the pandemic’s impact on people’s income.
A report to cabinet says: “The overall increase will enable a balance position to be achieved for 2021/22.
“During this period of continuous uncertainty, we are conscious of the impact of council tax increases on Bristol residents.
“Given the growth in demand for our services and the absence of any new permanent funding being made available by government, the council is required to take action to ensure the sustainability of social care, therefore proposes to take up the social care precept at three per cent.
“If council tax is set below this threshold, it would mean the permanent loss of council tax baseline yield with no opportunity to make up the losses in future years, without triggering a costly local referendum exercise.”
The report says the city council continues to offer a council tax reduction scheme (CTRS) for working-age people who would have received council tax benefit before the national scheme was abolished in 2013, while pensioners are also protected from any changes.
It says: “Prior to the pandemic, Bristol had seen a relatively low unemployment rate and a decrease in the numbers of working-age adult claimants to the CTRS in recent years.
“However, since the pandemic, there has been a marked increase in the number of claimants of the working age CTRS which has increased the overall cost by £2.3 million in 2020/21.
“This is likely to continue into part of the 2021/22.”
The report says the recommended rises have taken into consideration the responses to public consultation at the end of last year, although the report outlining the results of this has not yet been published on the cabinet meeting agenda.
The new bills represent the local authority’s portion of the council tax, which accounts for the bulk of it, with smaller precepts to be added from the Avon & Somerset police and crime commissioner and Avon Fire Authority.
Council tax rose by 3.99 per cent last year, the maximum allowed at the time.