COUNCIL tax bills for the typical household in the Emersons Green area will top £2,500 for the first time this year.
Band D tax payers living in the area covered by Emersons Green Town Council are set to pay an extra £115.45 or 4.74% from April, when increases in charges from South Gloucestershire Council, the town council, police and fire service are added up, taking the total bill to £2,548.99.
People living in the area covered by Pucklechurch Parish Council will have higher bills, adding up to £2,617.90, while Band D taxpayers in the area covered by Siston Parish Council will see bills reach £2,514.42.
Charges vary according to property size, with this year’s overall bill in Emersons Green ranging from £1,699.34 for the smallest Band A homes to £5,097.98 for people with those in Band H.
South Gloucestershire Council approved a 4.99% increase – the maximum allowed without calling a referendum – at its annual budget meeting in February.
It takes the authority’s basic charge to residents with homes in the average Band D tax bracket up by £94.66, from £1,904.91 to £1,999.57.
The council also levies a ‘special expenses’ charge for neighbourhood facilities it provides, which can include upkeep of neighbourhood parks and open spaces where it runs them, and differs between parishes.
The rest of the overall bill is made up of charges from other public bodies.
Avon & Somerset’s police and crime commissioner Clare Moody is raising charges for a Band D tax payer by £15 (5.12%) from £293.20 to £308.20.
Avon Fire Authority is raising its annual charge by £5 or 5.53%, to to £95.43.
Town and parish councils are not subject to government restrictions on how much they can raise charges without calling a referendum, and as a result some raise their share of bills by a higher percentage to pay for new facilities, workers or responsibilities.
Emersons Green Town Council, which includes Lyde Green, has frozen its precept budget at £816,102 this year.
This is because last year it mistakenly asked South Gloucestershire Council to increase it from £584,600 to £816,102, instead of the intended £599,215 – putting the 2025/26 charge to Band D tax payers up by 40.9%.
The town council said it told South Gloucestershire about the “administrative oversight”, but no-one realised it had not been corrected until after last year’s bills were sent out.
At the time the town council said it would keep the extra money in a savings account, towards a “reduced or frozen” precept this year.
An increase in the number of new households in the area paying council tax, from 6,920 to 6,973, means the town council’s precept charge to individual households has gone down slightly.
Band D taxpayers will pay £117.04, 89p or 0.75% less than last year.
However, a £1.68 increase in special expenses charges, and the increases to other parts of the bill mean the overall charge is still up 4.74% or £115.45 on last year in Band D, at £2,548.99.
Three years ago the town council’s budget was £306,000.
Pucklechurch Parish Council has increased its budget by £28,040, or 19.08%, from £146,960 to £175,000 this year, with the precept rising by £26.17 or 16.86%, from £155.18 to £181.35 in Band D.
Special expenses have gone up by £1.65 or 5.21%, from £31.70 to £33.35, and the overall bill to Band D council tax payers is £2,617.90, up £142.48 or 5.76%.
In Siston parish, which includes the Siston Hill estate, the parish council has increased its charge to Band D taxpayers by £4.52 or 13.54%, from £33.37 to £37.89, and the special expenses bill is up by £3.26 from £70.07 to £73.33.
The parish budget has risen by £8,000 or 13.79%, from £58,000 to £66,000.
The highest council tax bills in South Gloucestershire are in Filton, where the town council pays for facilities including a leisure centre. Its Band D charge is £321.68, and total bills are £2,735.60 this year.
