Council plans could cause over 5% rise in council tax for one area

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

One area’s council tax could increase by 5.95 per cent in April under plans being put forward. 

In return Monmouthshire County Council’s Labour and Green Party coalition cabinet is promising to make investments in gulley cleaning and street sweeping, schools, social care, library books and materials and supporting the Citizens Advice service. 

The draft budget also sets out £2 million of savings, and plans to increase charges for services from meals on wheels and burials and parking by at least 3.8 per cent, while promising existing libraries and leisure centres and the frequency of waste collections will be maintained throughout the 2026/27 financial year. 

The proposed budget also includes £5.5m in one off, or capital spending, projects including a two year scheme to refurbish the historic grade II listed Chainbridge over the Usk at Kemeys Commander, and resurfacing works and maintenance for roads, footpaths, bridges and rights of way. 

In November the council had identified it was facing an £11.5m shortfall in funding in 2026/27 but that has been reduced since it learned its initial funding award from the Welsh Government and was then further boosted as the budget deal between the Labour government and Plaid Cymru provided more cash for local authorities. 

As a result Monmouthshire will see its funding increase by 4.4 per cent which works out as an extra £6.15m but a report, for the cabinet, states “this increase does need to be taken in the context of the £16.8m of additional costs the council is managing through the budget process”. 

To further reduce that it is proposed increasing fees in charges, in line with inflation from last September, will bring in 800,000 while council services have identified £2.1m in savings. 

The report states the remaining £7.7m can only be found through changes or cuts to services and increasing council tax. 

The proposed 5.95 per cent hike would generate £5.4m but the cabinet won’t decide on the increase it will ask the full council to approve until after it has collected the responses to a public consultation on the draft budget including the level of council tax rise. 

A 5.95 per cent increase, before police and community council charges are added, would mean a band D home facing an annual bill of £1,926.45 which works out at an extra £2.08 a week or £108.19 a year. 

Despite having identified a required £2.1m in savings and cuts only £1.25m have so far been found which are from children’s care placements, which intends to make more use of the council’s in-house foster carers, and new provision based in Monmouthshire and from consolidating under staffing in adult domiciliary care. 

The draft budget still leaves 0.97m in savings or cuts that will have to be found by March in order to produce a legally required balanced budget. The council’s budget position is also helped as latest figures show it is on course to end the current financial in balance.