'Financially fragile' council agrees tax rise

A council leader said his authority was "financially fragile" as it set its budget for the coming financial year.

Somerset Council agreed a 4.99% rise in its share of residents' council tax bills - a £92 a year increase on a Band D property.

Liberal Democrat Leader Bill Revans said while the council's position remained fragile it was "now in a recovery phase" from the financial emergency it declared three years ago.

The opposition Conservative group leader Diogo Rodrigues said the Liberal Democrats were "not managing our money well" and the administration needed to "get its house in order".

The average Band D property in Somerset will pay £1,950.30 a year from April.

The council said this figure was lower than the average charge to Band D homes nationally, and is lower than the cost in neighbouring Dorset, Wiltshire and Cornwall.

Revans previously said a hike of 11% was "one of the options" being discussed, following a 7.49% rise in 2025.

But the council was told last month by the government that it could not raise its share of the bill above a 5% cap.

Somerset Council's budget for 2026/27 also included £21m of savings and increases in fees and charges.

These include bringing in a charge for new garden waste bins, a rise in wedding certificate fees and reducing the number of days the council continues to pay for a care home room after a resident has died, from five days to two.

Somerset Council has needed special government support for the last three years in order to balance its books.

For 2026/27 it has been given permission to sell-off £25m of buildings and other assets and spend that money on day-to-day services.

However in a letter about that deal, last month, Local Government Minister Alison McGovern said she had "significant concerns" about the council's financial planning.

Earlier this week, council leader Bill Revans told BBC Radio Somerset he was "confident" this would be the last year exceptional financial support would be required from the government.

"This time next year I'll be speaking to you with a balanced budget without the use of one-off resources," said Revans.

"We are a long way further away from bankruptcy than we were two and a half years ago," he added.

Revans also said the council would have to spend around an extra £224,000 on postage costs to send council tax bills by first class post, instead of second class. He said this was due to a late government finance settlement.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said: "Decisions on Exceptional Financial Support were made in line with the timing of decisions in previous years, and ahead of the 11 March statutory deadline for the council's budget setting."

Meanwhile at the same meeting as the budget vote, councillors also appointed a new chief finance director - the authority's fifth in four years.

Rachael Sanders, who is currently at Herefordshire Council, has been given the role on a permanent basis with a salary of around £150,000 a year.

She brings to an end a series of three interim directors, the most recent costing the authority £7,000 a week.

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