Cheshire East set to vote through council tax hike
Councillors meet next week
Delamere House(Image: LDRS)
Cheshire East is expected to vote through a 4.99 per cent hike in council tax next week taking the total annual bill for a band D property up to an average £2,454. The increase – which includes two per cent ring-fenced for adult social care – is expected to be rubber stamped at Wednesday’s (February 25) meeting of the full council.
It is the maximum that can be imposed after the council’s request to increase its portion of the tax by 9.99 per cent was refused by the government earlier this month. The council tax comprises four elements – the precepts for Cheshire East, the police, the fire service, and the individual town and parish councils.
The 4.99 per cent rise to be recommended to full council next week, will see Cheshire East’s part of the bill [precept] go up from £1,882.04 for a band D property to £1,975.95. While the government turned down Cheshire East’s appeal to increase its council tax by more than the maximum amount, it gave the go-ahead for the police and crime commissioner to hike up the police precept by 6.68 per cent.
The extra was requested to safeguard some of the PCSO (police community support officer) jobs at risk. This higher increase will see the police portion of a band D bill rise from £276.94 to £295.44 a year.
The fire authority precept will rise by 5.26 per cent, taking that element of the bill from £95.09 to £100.09 for a band D property. Parish and town councils set different precepts, and these are too numerous to list, but Cheshire East says an average total for these lower tier authorities for the whole year is £83.39, which is up from £78.54.
When these totals are added together, this will see the average bill for a band D property rise from £2,332 last year to £2,454 for 2026/27. The meeting of the full council takes place at Tatton Park at 11am on Wednesday, February 25.