At a meeting of Mid Devon District Council’s full council, members set the budget for the financial year 2024/25 including the district precept for council tax.

Next financial year the average Band D property will pay £232.16 to Mid Devon District Council, an increase of 2.99% which is equivalent to 13 pence per week.

The amount of money the district council receives is one small element of a household’s council tax bill, with the other elements comprised of precepts from Devon County Council, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority, Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner, and the household’s local town or parish council if applicable.

This means an average Band D household’s total council tax bill will rise from £2,295.32 in 2023/24 to £2,404.17 in 2024/25, just over 4.7%.

Deputy Chief Executive, Andrew Jarrett, said:

“Setting an affordable budget for 2024/25 has perhaps been one of the most challenging yet. However, despite this, we have balanced a budget that allows us to continue to provide and invest in high quality services to our communities and businesses, with a below inflation increase to council tax. The budget for 2024/25 also contains significant investment to deliver vital housing growth in Mid Devon, ensuring that there is a bright future across the district.”

The Council has a duty to provide statutory services such as waste collection, recycling and street cleansing, homelessness provision and planning. We are also committed to providing non-statutory services for our residents which include investment in leisure, the provision of parks and open spaces and community development grants.

The council tax collected is used, in part, to fund these services and details of the allocated 2024/25 budget are detailed in the table below.

Mid Devon	2023/24 £m	2024/25 £m	Movement %
Total gross budget	57.817	58.668	1.5%
Housing	28.289	29.880	5.6%
Transport	1.036	0.991	-4.3%
Environment	8.878	9.425	6.2%
Planning	5.953	4.973	-16.5%
Recreation and tourism	6.788	6.798	0.1%
Other	4.563	4.118	-9.8%
Parish precepts	2.310	2.483	7.5%

A number of these gross service costs are also paid, in part, from fee income in areas such as leisure, waste, car parking and planning. The net cost of running the Council is funded by the income streams below:

Income stream	2023/24 £m	2024/25 £m	Movement %
Total income budget	57.817	58.668	1.5%
Housing	27.432	28.926	5.4%
Government funding	1.538	1.732	12.6%
Business rates	4.319	4.565	5.7%
Council tax	6.749	6.968	3.2%
Other	17.779	16.477	-7.3%

Full details about council tax charges for 2024/25 as well as previous years can be found on the Council website.