COUNCILLORS have agreed to increase Wellington Town Council’s share of the overall Council Tax bill for 2025/26 by 27.41 per cent.

Members unanimously agreed at their monthly meeting on January 6 to adopt the recommended budget for the next financial year.

The increase will take the average household Band D bill to £211.88 – equivalent to just over £4 a week.

It means those in Band D households will be paying an extra £45.59 a year for town council services.

Two years ago and those same households were facing a Council Tax charge from the town council for just £84.65.

The big hike has been necessary as the town council has taken financial responsibility for a raft of services from cash-strapped Somerset Council which has been well-documented over the past year by the Wellington Weekly News.

Councillors heard that an expenditure budget for nearly £1.45m had been set as well as a further £91,277 into reserves – giving an overall total of just over £1.5m for the year. This figure was reduced by a £316,289 thanks to projected income of £68,240 and £248,000 of money not spent in the 2023-24 financial year.

This left the council with a deficit of £1,234,120 for 2025-26 – known as the precept which will now be recouped in the Council Tax.

Town councillors had had several discussions in recent months about the budget for 2025/26 and so they merely dotted the I’s and crossed the t’s at their meeting on January 6.

They also thanked the council’s deputy clerk and finance officer, Alice Kendall, for all her work in preparing the budget and reports.

It should be stressed that the town council only takes a small slice of the overall Council Tax cake.

The lion’s share of the 2025/26 Council Tax bill - which will start falling through people’s letterboxes in April - will be gobbled up by Somerset Council.

The county’s charge also includes a sum paid to the Somerset Rivers Authority with an additional precept to help fund adult social care.

The Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner and the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service also receive part of the Council Tax.

Councillors have debated the prospect of a hike in its precept over recent months. There were fears some services could be lost if Wellington Town Council does not take them on from Somerset Council, but it’s expected to come at a cost of around £1,459,132.50, as reported on December 6.

Councillor Keith Wheatley said last month: “Somerset Council is going from doing a lot to not doing very much and leaving it to us to pick things up.”