THE average Council Tax payer will get all their district council services for £3.03 a week after West Somerset Council set its budget for 2018-19 last Friday.

Councillors approved a budget which included a Council Tax increase of 3.32 per cent – a rise of £5 a year for the average Band D property, of which £1.76 a year will go to the Somerset Rivers Authority.

The authority’s share of Council Tax is about ten per cent of the total bill, with the remainder funding Somerset County Council, the police and fire services and town and parish councils.

Cllr Mandy Chilcott, lead member for resources and central support, said the council had been able to set a balanced budget despite an almost 30 per cent cut in general funding support to £738,000.

Also, the share of business rates income kept by West Somerset under the “retention system” would be £218,000 lower than previously forecast.

However, overall the retained business rates income was higher than in previous years, at £2,460,000, mainly due to an increase in the rateable value of Hinkley B power station.

But it is expected to drop again in the following financial year to £1,850,000, as the 2018-19 figure includes a one-off adjustment due to a revaluation in 2017.

Council leader Cllr Anthony Trollope-Bellew said: “It is a major achievement that we have been able to set a balanced budget in the face of serious financial challenges.

“This is sure to become increasingly difficult in the years ahead, as future projections for business rates funding and new homes bonus become increasingly uncertain.”

n The lion’s share of Council Tax bills goes to the county council, which last week agreed spending of £316m on services, supported by a 2.99 per cent increase in its element of Council Tax and a three per cent precept to support adult social care services for vulnerable older people.

That will result in an annual increase of £67.37 for the average Band D property.

n Elsewhere, Taunton Deane Borough Council’s Band D Council Tax bill will increase by £5 a year, resulting in a weekly cost of £2.97.

And the council’s housing tenants will see their rents fall by one per cent to £81.69 a week.

Council Leader Cllr John Williams said: “The small increase in Council Tax will raise an additional £207,000, which goes towards protecting vital services.”

Similarly, Sedgemoor District Council is increasing its council tax by £5 a year.