Introduction

Your council tax pays for essential local services in your community such as schools, libraries, police and rubbish collection. Council tax is charged on all residential properties in England. One council tax bill is sent to each property, however many people live there.

Your bill is made up of charges set by:

• Somerset Council
• With an additional precept to help fund adult social care precept
• Somerset Council’s charge includes a sum paid to the Somerset Rivers Authority
• The Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset
• Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
• Local parish councils

Where a town or parish council sets a budget of more than £140,000 a year, we must show details of their expenditure plans. This applies to the following parishes and town councils:

• Bridgwater
• Bruton
• Burnham on Sea and Highbridge
• Castle Cary
• Chard Town
• Cheddar
• Crewkerne Town
• Frome
• Glastonbury
• Ilminster Town
• Martock
• Minehead
• North Petherton
• Shepton Mallet
• Somerton
• South Petherton
• St Cuthbert
• Street
• Taunton
• Watchet
• Wellington
• Wells
• Wincanton Town
• Yeovil Town

Taunton Parish Council

If you live in Taunton, your bill includes a precept for the new Taunton Parish Council. As this is a brand-new precept, we are unable to show a percentage change figure on the front of your bill. The percentage change between the overall Council Tax charge for your property for last year and this year is shown below.  The percentage change will vary according to which parish / area your property was in last year.  The amounts shown below relate to a property in band D, but the percentage change is the same across all of the Council Tax bands A to H.

For properties previously in the unparished area now in Bishops Hull:

For properties previously in Staplegrove now in Kingston St Mary:

Adult social care precept

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has made an offer to adult social care authorities. (“Adult social care authorities” are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.)

The offer is the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional “precept” on its Council Tax without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting its expenditure on adult social care from the financial year 2016-17. It was originally made in respect of the financial years up to and including 2019-20. If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to the approval of the House of Commons.

For adult social care authorities, council tax demand notices show two percentage changes: one for the part of the overall change attributable to the adult social care precept, and one for the part attributable to general expenditure.

The changes to the demand notice regulations mean where, for example, an ASC authority sets a 3% increase on its previous year’s overall charge (comprising 2% for the core increase and 1% for ASC), those percentage point increases should be shown separately.

Clearly, this is different to how other percentages work on the bill and causes confusion.

For Somerset Council (Band D equivalent) the changes mean:

Downloads

Council Tax charges 2023-24 by band and parish

Council Tax bill insert 2023-24 – Introducing your new Somerset Council

Council Tax bill insert 2023-24 – Letter from Cllr Bill Revans

Council Tax bill insert 2023-24 – Additional information

Annual Budget Meeting 22 February 2023