North Yorkshire Council plan to raise tax by 4.99%

North Yorkshire Council is proposing to raise council tax by 4.99% from April and has warned of further similar increases.

The Conservative-led authority said the hike - which includes a 2% precept for adult social care - would add more than £95 to the annual bill for a Band D property.

Council leader Carl Les said the rise was necessary to help plug future funding gaps, with the council already "battling a gap of more than £20m" in the current financial year, and suggested bills may have to rise again in the coming years.

A spokesperson for the government said it had committed £78bn for local authorities, with North Yorkshire Council set to receive £756m in 2026-27.

The council said changes to the way local government was funded had seen the council lose £20m in core funding a year after being handed "one of the worst financial settlements in the country" following the loss of the rural services grant in 2024.

It said the government's new funding settlement "placed a heavy reliance on the county's taxpayers" adding that the government "has said that it expects council tax to rise by 4.99% in each of the next three years to help plug funding gaps".

Les said the council had petitioned the government for the "fairest possible funding settlement, but we have still been left with a multi-million pound shortfall".

He said: "All councils are facing a tough financial situation but delivering services across deeply rural areas such as North Yorkshire costs more.

"We have lost nearly £20m in base funding when compared to last year, and this is significantly higher when inflation is factored in.

"There will undoubtedly be tough decisions ahead when we come to consider our budget for the next financial year and into the future."

According to a council report, the authority plans to put £17m from its reserves into next year's budget, adding that without new savings it would need to take £59.3m in total over the next three years.

Deputy leader Gareth Dadd said: "We are fortunate that we can make services as efficient and cost-effective as possible for our taxpayers through the launch of North Yorkshire Council, when eight former authorities merged into one in 2023.

"However, the truth is that we are faced with some very difficult options to ensure that we can provide services as effectively and as efficiently as we can to the public."

Peter Lacey, who leads the council's Liberal Democrat opposition group, said his group recognised the "challenging context" in which the budget will be set.

But he said the Conservative-led council had relied too heavily on savings made after 2023, when North Yorkshire's eight councils were merged into one.

"While efforts have been made to address rising cost pressures, we have consistently called for a more ambitious approach that re-invests short term savings into long term, sustainable solutions," he said.

A government spokesperson said ministers "do not accept" the position set out by North Yorkshire Council.

"We're making almost £78 billion available for council finances next year, including nearly £756 million for North Yorkshire," they said.

"This will help them deliver the high-quality public services people need."

North Yorkshire Council's executive is set to meet on 20 January to discuss the proposal, though a recent public consultation found 77% of respondents supported a rise in council tax.

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