Council tax formally set for 25/26

Powys county councillors have today formally set council tax, which includes an overall hike for Newtown residents of £190 per year for a Band D property.

At a full council meeting held today (6th March 2025), Powys county councillors have formally approved council tax rates for billing purposes. The new combined Band D rate for Newtown residents is £2,360.76 per annum.

Council tax consists of a local charge for services and is made up of three public bodies - Powys County Council, Dyfed Powys Police and Newtown & Llanllwchaiarn Town Council. All three bodies have increased their portion of council tax for the upcoming financial year.

Powys County Council have increased their element by 8.9%, coming in at £1,784.64 per annum. The Police and Crime Commissioner, Dafydd Llywellyn has increased his portion by 8.6%, collecting £360.68 per annum and Newtown & Llanllwchaiarn Town Council has increased their portion by around 7.6%, coming in at £215.44 per annum.

These increases mean that the average Band D property will be paying £190.95 more per year.

Annual change for council tax by Band - Newtown & Llanllwchaiarn residents

You can view other community area charges via Spotlight Powys by clicking here.

As we reported last week, Powys County councillors met to discuss and debate their budget for the upcoming year.

Next year’s council budget is set to go up to of £365.777 million after the council were told they would receive a 3.2 per cent increase in funding from the Welsh Government just before Christmas. However due to a deal done yesterday by the Liberal Democrats, this funding is increasing to 3.8%.

To balance next year’s budget a funding gap of £24.151 million needs to be plugged. Of that figure £12.287 million of this will be addressed by the council in a mixture of cuts, savings, and income generation. The Council Tax increase is supposed to cover the remaining amount.

Director of Corporate Services and s151 Officer, Jane Thomas, said:

“The report you are considering today is required by legislation to ensure that Council Tax rates for the forthcoming year can be implemented so that we can deliver our services.

“It is important to note that this does not re-open the budget process as it council agreed the Council Tax level to be set, and this applies the calculation for those charges.”

She added that any delay would have a significant impact on the council’s cash flow as there are “strict deadlines” to get the bills written up and sent out.