COUNCILLORS are expecting to receive a barrage of criticism when people in Wellington find out that the town council’s share of the Council Tax is going to go up considerably for the second year running.

But members of Wellington Town Council’s policy and finance committee agreed at their extraordinary meeting on November 18 that the authority will need to act quickly to nip the criticism in the bud and explain why taxpayers are having to pay more.

The town council only receives a small part of the overall tax bill which will land on people’s doors in April next year. The lion’s share of the bill is always taken by Somerset Council and that will be the case once again for the 2025-26 financial year.

But the town council’s projected budget for the year is set to top the £1million-barrier for the first time because it is taking on a raft of extra services and responsibilities from the county authority.

This will no doubt spark questions from taxpayers asking why they have to pay more for the town council share of the Council Tax, when the county authority’s slice of the cake will undoubtedly not be reduced.

Early town council figures have shown that the 2025-26 expenditure has been budgeted for £1,459.132.50 and offset by an estimated income of £68,240.

That leaves a big shortfall, the majority of which will come from the precept – the amount of money the town council will receive from taxpayers as its part of the overall Council Tax bill for 2025-26.

Council officials have said, however, that it is far too early to say what the final precept figures will be as not all the relevant information has been received yet. It is likely that the final figures will revealed at the council’s full meeting in January 2025.

The council does not yet know what the tax base will be, does not know the outturn for the current 2024-25 budget and no decision has yet been made on whether to use reserves to offset the increase.

Town clerk Dave Farrow said: “We’re looking at the figures, but it’s difficult put a final figure on things just yet.

“It would be a risk if we started talking about possible increases in precept when we don’t actually know the proper figures yet because the ‘possible increases’ would become gospel on social media.”

The 2024-25 financial year saw the town council’s Council Tax charge for Band D – the average household – rise by a whopping 96.4 per cent which worked out at £166.29 a year and around £3.20 per week.

A council meeting in September heard £65 mentioned as a possible “worst case scenario increase” to the Band D bill which would take it up to £231.29, a near 40 per cent increase, and work out at £4.40 per week, a rise of £1.20. But those figures are all guesstimates.

“I’d say we shouldn’t use percentages in terms of increases and use good old pounds, shillings and pence,” said the Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd.