Council Tax rise explained

With Council Tax bills hitting doormats at the moment, the Town Council has set out the reasons for increasing its share of the bill.

The increase, totalling £15.23 a year or 29p a week at Council Tax Baand D, takes the Town Council’s annual share up to £204.44 – 7.5% out of the total Band D bill of £2,705.02. The remainder of the bill is paid to Dorset Council (£2,101.05), Dorset Police (£91.95), and Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Authority (£307.58).

Town councillors agreed the 8.05% increase over the course of two public meetings in January, aided by a detailed report (see https://www.bridport-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/13-01-25-Estimates-2025-2026-ENCL-3961.pdf) setting out the financial position.

The report highlights a number of financial challenges that contributed to inflationary pressures well above the prevailing rate of price increases:

• The increased rate of employer’s National Insurance alone accounted for 15% (£23,000) of the overall rise of £159,000 in the amount raised from Council Tax;
• The Council has had to make provision for a 50% market-driven increase in its insurance premium (up by about £8,400pa), and for significantly higher costs of IT (up by £9,600);
• Annual support for larger community organisations has been increased by over a third (£18,000) as these bodies face their own funding pressures; and
• Councillors have made the difficult decision to bolster reserve funding (by £75,000), which had reduced towards the lower end of recommended levels as a result of lost income during pandemic restrictions.

The overall amount raised from Council Tax – just over £1m – is supplemented by £800,000 from other income streams. This enables the Council to pursue its objectives as set out in its five-year plan (see https://www.bridport-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Five-Year-Plan-2024-2029-FINAL-approved-21-01-25.pdf) and to provide or support:

• Allotments
• Beach Wheelchair Scheme
• Bridport Cemetery
• Car parks (Bridport FC and Plottingham)
• Climate Emergency Action Plan projects
• Community buildings and venues (e.g. Town Hall, Bridport WI Hall, Salt House)
• Community Emergency Response/Resilience
• Community Leadership
• Civic and Ceremonial activities
• Community Bus
• Community grants and funding to larger local organisations
• Energy Champions
• Events including Community and Town Council events, and support to other organisations’ events
• Green route and other footpaths
• Highway verges
• Lengthsman
• Licensing services (Sitting Out, and Charity Collections)
• Markets
• Mayoral support
• Parks and Play Areas
• Planning (as statutory consultee)
• Public Toilets (East Street Car Park, and two Changing Places toilets)
• Sculpture Trail and Greta Berlin collection
• Social media and website
• Strategic Planning, e.g. Bridport Investment Plan, Access & Movement Study
• Support to Bridport Local Area Partnership, and other partnership Working
• Support to the Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan, and BANP project delivery
• Tourist Information Centre
• Town Council projects
• West Bay Discovery Centre