Council tax bills in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge look set to rise by £7.44 a year from April after an increase was supported by Town Councillors last night (Monday, January 12th).
Members of Burnham and Highbridge Town Council’s Finance Committee voted in favour of raising the council’s overall budget for the coming year to £1,437,785 from £1,324,115 last year to provide local services in the two towns.
The committee proposed a £7.44 per year increase on Band D properties, raising them to £202.06 from £194.62 last year, although the final figure is subject to a vote by the full Town Council in coming weeks.
The Town Council says the increase is partly needed due to having to take on extra ‘devolution’ costs by providing services such as local public toilets, play areas, and floral displays that were previously funded by Somerset Council.
At Monday’s meeting, town councillors also proposed earmarking an extra £10,000 in the budget towards improved Christmas lights in Burnham and Highbridge in response to negative feedback on the town displays this past Christmas.
Furthermore, councillors also proposed allocating an extra £10,000 in their budget for a Highbridge shopfronts improvement grant scheme, identical to the one that launched in Burnham-On-Sea last week.
After reviewing the Town Council’s draft budget during Monday’s meeting, councillors unanimously voted in favour of supporting the proposed budget, however a final decision won’t be made until the next Town Council meeting.
The £7.44 increase only refers to the Town Council’s portion (or precept) in council tax bills. Other precept amounts for Somerset Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), and the Fire and Rescue Authority have not yet been decided and will be used to calculate the overall council tax totals which will come into effect in April 2026.
