March 8, 2022 11.28 am This story is over 23 months old

Councils across Lincolnshire approve tax rises – here’s how much you’ll be paying

Councils blame difficult years and future uncertainty

Most councils have now approved a tax rise across the county, with a number going pretty close to the limits for how much they can take.

The majority of councils continue to note a lack of certainty over finances in the future, with government funding around business rates or annual settlements up in the air.

The maximum amount district councils can raise tax by before sparking a public referendum is £5, or 1.99%, whichever is greater.

Here’s the latest council tax rises across the county:

Lincolnshire County Council

Lincolnshire County Council voted in favour of a near 5% rise in council tax after upping its initial bid from 3% earlier this year.

The authority’s full council voted by a majority to approve the rise. Leaders previously said they’ve been forced to tackle a reduction in the highways budget by 25%.

The rise will take the average Band D Council tax payment to the county council to £1,432.17 for the year

It is hoped the funding will help generate £15,901,000 for the council.

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner

Lincolnshire’s police and crime commissioner Marc Jones’s £9.99 tax rise was approved by the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel at a recent meeting.

The rise equates to around 3.75% rise for 2022 and is the first of a potential three £9.99 rises to take place by 2024/25.

A report before councillors said the increase would raise the force’s budget by £2.4million and enable it to hire an additional 67 new police officers, including 12 community beat managers.

City of Lincoln

City of Lincoln Councillors approved a 1.89% council tax increase as part of the council’s budget for 2022/23.

A Full Council meeting last Tuesday saw members vote by a majority to approve the measure which would see a Band D property pay an extra £5.40 a year – a total of £290.79.

Councillors were told that the total tally including Lincolnshire County Council and the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner would leave the city rate at an average of £1,999.26 for a Band D property – an overall 4.35% increase.

South Kesteven District Council

South Kesteven District Council has increased its charge by £5 at a meeting held last Thursday.  It equates to a rise of 2.96%.

The rise will take Band D property prices to £173.59.

With Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner rises taken into account the total for a Band D property will rise to an average of £1,881.76 before parish councils are taken into account. An overall rise of 4.6%.

Bosses say the money will bring in around £250,000 of additional income.

East Lindsey District Council

East Lindsey District Council voted in favour of a 3.26% rise in its council tax at a meeting last Wednesday.

The increase equates to a £4.95 rise on band D properties and will take the precept for those homes to £156.69.

The average total for the council, plus county and police precepts will increase on average 4.65% in ELDC, with the average property paying £1,865.16 before parish councils are taken into account.

Boston Borough Council

Boston leaders voted through a 2.5% increase on Monday, again going for the £4.95 amount bordering on a public referendym.

The rise will see council tax payers forking out £202.86 for a band D property from April.

With the county and police precepts taken into account it takes the total to £1,911.33, an annual increase of £82.95 – 4.54% overall.

South Holland

Tax payers in South Holland will see their rate rise by £4.95 – a 2.68% rise after council meeting last Thursday.

The move will see the average band D property pay £189.63 to the precept.

However, with county and police rises taken into account, the annual figure for band D will go to £1,898.10 before parish councils and Spalding area special expenses are taken into account.

It means residents will pay at least an extra £82.95 on there bills – a rise of 4.58%.

North Kesteven

Band D residents in North Kesteven District Council are another one on the list to be paying an extra £4.95 to their district.

The rise equates to 2.84% and will see the district precept rise to £179.55.

With LCC and Police taken into account, the cost to the average tax payer before town and parish precepts are taken into account will rise from £1,805.07 to £1,888.02 – a rise of 4.59% or £82.95.

West Lindsey

West Lindsey residents will pay £227.74 for their district precept after voting to increase their bill by 2.24%.

The rise equates to a £5 higher charge compared to the previous year.

With LCC and Police taken into account, the cost to the average tax payer before town and parish precepts are taken into account will rise from £1,853.21 to £1,936.21 – a rise of £83 or 4.48%.

North East Lincolnshire

Councillors in North East Lincolnshire will face a 1.98 per cent rise in council tax and 1 per cent rise in the adult social care precept.

The move means that people living in Grimsby, for instance, will pay an extra £59.70 – with their precept rising to £2,063.11.

Cleethorpes resident’s precept will go up by £59.73 to £2,064.23.

North Lincolnshire

The Conservative group at North Lincolnshire passed a budget to raise council tax by 0.89% to their council tax and 2% for adult social care on February 24.

The move means band D properties will pay an extra £12.50 on their general tax and £31.39 on adult social care.

In total the average band D tax will rise frrom £1,569.45 to £1,613.34.


What the councils said

Costs, including materials and fuel, they argue, continue to rise both nationally and internationally, making it difficult to provide services at the same level as before.

There is also the last two years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic that councils have to take into account. Although government paid a number of grants to the councils, they argue there were still extra costs in getting their staff sorted and equipped for things like home working, or carrying out extra duties.

Conservative Councillor Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, recently told members: “At a time when so much financial support has been provided to individuals, businesses and organisations across the UK in response to the pandemic, it’s not entirely surprising that there will now be limited additional funding for councils.

“Our ability to find savings in addition to the £300 million since 2011 is also becoming increasingly difficult, but we are committed to doing all we can to use taxpayers money effectively.”

Meanwhile, Labour leader of City of Lincoln Council Councillor Ric Metcalfe said: “We are still living with the legacy of the damage inflicted by COVID-19 on the finances of the council,” he said.

“And, now, we are faced with significant rising costs and inflationary pressures right across the board.”

“So there is some uncertainty in almost every direction that we look.”

Most rises are calculated on band D properties, being just about middle of the road in terms of the heirarchy, however, the majority of councils will argue that their housing stock is mostly on a lower band and so people will pay slightly less.

In the majority of cases, councillors have agreed more money is needed and have voted to approve the rises.

Some opposition members, however, have unsuccessfully tried to change spending priorities or ask their leaders to use reserves to make up the losses.

Independent Councillor Ashley Baxter recently told LCC that its rise was “too far”.

“It doesn’t feel we’d be treating our residents with respect to demand such a big increase with £60 million already in the piggy bank and knowing there’s another £7 million raised in council tax last year that isn’t being spent on the services it was collected for,” he said.

An amendment proposed by him to reduce the tax by 1% was lost at the vote.

Labour leader Councillor Len Foster told the North Lincolnshire Council budget meeting on February 24 that ‘enough was enough’ when it came to a squeeze on living standards.

“The Labour Party’s amendment is unprecedented, in that we at a local government level firmly believe in progressive structured financial management of the council’s resources, and would normally be supportive of increases at or around government permitted level,” Councillor Foster said.

“But we are not in normal times.

“The cost of living is increasing at an uncontrolled rate. Inflation is out of control.”