The average council tax on a mid-priced home in Wokingham is set to rise by around £105 a year, it has been revealed.
Wokingham Borough Council leaders look set to agree a maximum council tax increase of just under 5% when they set the coming year’s budget on Thursday.
Wokingham Today first reported the 4.99% predicted increase on January 3, noting it was a shade under the permitted 5% rise allowed by the government.
The increase will be on top of extra charges levied by the police, fire service, and town and parish councils.
Council budget plans say that government grants aren’t enough to cover the rising costs of providing essential services – meaning that it has to increase council tax by the maximum amount.
The exact amount of council tax a household pays depends on how highly the building is valued, and which town or parish it is in. Some households are also eligible for discounts or council tax relief.
But Wokingham Borough Council said the average ‘band D’ medium value home could pay £2,262.93 between April this year and April 2025. That’s a £105.58 increase on the current average ‘band D’ bill of £2,157.35.
Homes in the highest band, ‘band H’, will pay £4,525.86, up from £4,314.70. Homes at the lowest end of the scale ‘band A’ will pay £1,508.62 – an increase of £70.40 from the current rate of £1438.22.
The increases are part of Wokingham Borough Council’s proposed budget for the coming financial year, running from April 2024 – April 2025. They are set to be debated and voted on at a council meeting this week.
How is council tax decided?
Most of your council tax goes to Wokingham Borough Council to pay for the day-to-day running of its services. These range from libraries and leisure centres to grass cutting and rubbish collection, and social services for people most in need.
Each financial year – starting and ending in April – the council works out how much it will need to spend. It looks at how much money it expects to get from sources such as government grants, business rates and income from its own services. Then it decides how much it needs to increase council tax in order to cover remaining costs.
On top of that the police, fire brigade and town and parish councils each add their own charges which are collected by Wokingham Borough Council and passed on.
