IT’S that time of year again, where our pages – online and print – are full of news about council tax increases (it’s always increases, isn’t it?).

This can get confusing, as one story will say %8, another %3, leaving us normal folks struggling to work out just how much more we are going to pay.

So, we thought it might be helpful to provide a guide on what exactly is being decided in these stories, and how it all ties together to land in one place – on your doormat in the form of a bill.

What does council tax pay for?

Your council tax bill, usually paid each month, is surmised in a nice simple statement, sent out before the tax year begins in April. It tells you how much your bill is, and how much you will pay each month.

However, that amount is a sum total of several different parts – which are the things it is paying for.

In the Somerset Council area, they are:

• Somerset Council
• Somerset Rivers Authority
• Adult Social Care
• Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner
• Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
• Parish, town or city councils

Note: The Somerset Rivers Authority and adult social care elements of the bill might be shown as part of the Somerset Council total, but anyway, these are the bits of administration your bill pays for.

Somerset Council is a big, overarching category receiving money, but in brief, it goes towards all the services that authority provides, which includes your bin and recycling collections, highways, and more.

Why are there different council tax rises mentioned in stories?

Ahead of the final council tax bills being sent out, each of the areas outlined above has to decide how much they need for the coming year.

Once they’ve settled on an amount, they can put that forward for inclusion in your single council tax bill.

The amount put forward by each group is called the ‘precept’. For example, if your bill details the parish council wants £200 for the year, it has a precept of £200.

Because the bill is made up of charges from a number of areas, with each setting its own precept, it means you will see stories ahead of the final bill listing those decisions.

So, you may see a story saying, for example, ‘Taunton households to see council tax to rise by 5% after budget meeting’ – yet your actual council tax bill only rises by 4%.

This will be because one part of your bill has been decided, and is rising by 5%. For example, Taunton Town Council sets a ‘precept’ (how much it wants) for the year – that may have risen by 5%. However, your total, overall bill (with every precept included) doesn’t increase by that much, as others may have smaller increases or, hope against hope, a decrease.

Similarly, the police may decide they need a lot more money, so increase their precept by 10%, for example, bringing another ‘Council tax to rise by 10% to pay for police’ headline.

Now you have two stories with different rates of council tax increases – which may not look anything like your final bill!

Confusing indeed, but these things are all decided at different times, so you will see stories detailing them as and when they happen.

So when you start thinking, ‘I thought my council tax was rising by 8%, but this says 4%?’, it’s probably different parts of your council tax rising by different amounts, not the total you actually pay.

When do I find out what my actual bill will be?

Obviously, this process means the final council tax bills for every household in Somerset can only be decided once all parts of that bill have set their precepts (decided how much money they need from you).

Once they have been set, Somerset Council will hold a full council budget meeting at which its precept is set and the final bill becomes clear and the bills – as detailed at the start – are sent out.

Are there limits on how much my council tax can rise?

To an extent, yes. However, this only applies to some parts of your bill.

The government sets limits on how much some people can increase their precept.

For example, local authorities (Somerset Council, North Somerset Council, etc) are limited to increases of 2.99% for general expenditure (to pay for the services they provide). However, they can also add an additional 2% to pay for adult social care, due to the funding crisis in that sector. And in Somerset, the amount for the Somerset Rivers Authority too.

The police meanwhile, in 2024/25, were limited to a £13 increase, while fire was set a limit of a 3% increase. Parish, city and town councils had no limit.

So there you have it. Hopefully, that makes sense and explains why you might see a number of headlines about council tax increases in the coming weeks before you finally, finally find out how much you are going to pay…