Council Tax 2025 to 2026
For 2025 to 2026, the threshold which would require us to hold a referendum for a council tax increase is 5%, comprising of 2% for expenditure on adult social care and 3% for general expenditure.
Council Tax increase
On 13 February 2025, the County Council approved a 4.989% Council Tax increase to help balance the 2025 to 2026 budget. This equates to approximately £6.70 extra per month for a band D household.
The 4.989% is within the 5% threshold, and therefore does not require the County Council to hold a referendum.
This table shows how the increase affects each Council Tax band (please remember the figures in this table relate to the Kent County Council element of your Council Tax bill only):
| Band | Total charge for 2024 to 2025 | Increase of 4.989% | Total charge for 2025 to 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,073.88 | £53.58 | £1,127.46 |
| B | £1,252.86 | £62.51 | £1,315.37 |
| C | £1,431.84 | £71.44 | £1,503.28 |
| D | £1,610.82 | £80.37 | £1,691.19 |
| E | £1,968.78 | £98.23 | £2,067.01 |
| F | £2,326.74 | £116.09 | £2,442.83 |
| G | £2,684.70 | £133.95 | £2,818.65 |
| H | £3,221.64 | £160.74 | £3,382.38 |
Read more about our 2025 to 2026 budget
To establish how much Council Tax we are able to raise, we multiply the Band D Council Tax charge by the number of Band D equivalent properties in the county (our taxbase), which is provided to us by the district councils of Kent.
For 2025 to 2026 our taxbase is 587,921.91.
587,921.91 multiplied by the band D charge of £1,691.19 equals £994,287,655 (to the nearest £100). This figure is called our Council Tax requirement.
Calculating our budget
To know how much is available to spend on services, we first need to calculate how much money we will raise through:
- grants
- Council Tax
- business rates
Our net budget requirement is the cost of services funded by these sources, and the table below shows how much we will get from each in 2025 to 2026.
| Source of funding | Amount (to nearest £1000) |
|---|---|
| Council Tax requirement | 994,287.7 |
| Grants within core spending power and other un-ringfenced grants | 464,371,3 |
| Local share of business rates | 69,097.6 |
| Council’s share of Council Tax and business rates collection funds | 3,523.2 |
| Net budget requirement | 1,531,279.8 |
| Typical Council Tax bill breakdown | % increase on 2024 to 2025 Council Tax bill | Amount for band D |
|---|---|---|
| Kent County Council | 2.995% | £1,426.05 This is the share of a Band D Council Tax bill that Kent County Council will receive in 2025 to 2026. This amount does not include the increase for adult social care funding since 2016 to 17 (see row below). |
| Kent County Council (for Adult Social Care funding) |
1.995%
Kent County Council’s share of Council Tax will increase by 4.992% in 2024 to 2025, which is this amount and the amount above) | £265.14 This is the 1.995% increase for adult social care funding for 2025 to 2026 ** added to the increases for adult social care, which were first introduced on 1 April 2016, for a Band Council Tax bill. From 1 April 2025 local authorities are no longer required to show the adult social care funding increase separately on Council Tax bills. |
| Kent Police and Crime Commissioner | 5.51% | £270.15 |
| Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue | 5.47% | £94.86 |
| District or Borough Council | These amounts will vary depending on which district council you pay your council tax to. | These amounts will vary depending on which district council you pay your council tax to. |
| Parish council | These amounts will vary depending on which district council you pay your council tax to. | These amounts will vary depending on which district council you pay your council tax to. |
** This is a 1.995% increase on the total 2024 to 2025 Kent County Council charge. How this element of your Council Tax increase is calculated:
- The total 2024 to 2025 charge was £1,610.82.
- 1.995% of this total charge is £32.13.
- The Adult Social Care charge for 2024 to 2025 was £233.01.
- The Adult Social Care charge for 2025 to 2026 is £265.14 (£233.01 + £32.13).
How your Council Tax is spent by our main services
| Service | % Council Tax | Amount for band D |
|---|---|---|
| Adults and older people | 42.33% | £715.81 |
| Children's social care | 14.92% | £252.26 |
| Transport services | 9.51% | £160.77 |
| Borrowing costs, contributions to/from reserves and other corporate costs | 8.06% | £136.32 |
| Management, support services and overheads | 7.01% | £118.50 |
| Waste services | 6.60% | £111.64 |
| Highways | 3.40% | £57.44 |
| Children's other services | 2.33% | £39.36 |
| Costs of running our operational premises | 1.99% | £33.59 |
| Other direct services to the public (incl Public Protection, Environment, Regeneration, Planning and Local Democracy) | 1.82% | £30.86 |
| Community services | 1.35% | £22.80 |
| Schools' services | 0.70% | £11.84 |
| Total: | 100.00% | £1,691.19 |
None of your Council Tax goes towards funding public health or education provision for schools and high needs education, as these services are fully funded by grant.
There are some costs associated with school transport and support for schools, as well as assessment of special needs which are funded from our net budget requirement (which includes Council Tax, business rates and general government grants) and these costs are shown within transport services, children's other services and schools’ services amounts.
The cost of supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking (UAS) children is funded by external grants from the Home Office and Department for Education with none funded from our net budget requirement. There is a very small amount funded from our net budget requirement (which includes Council Tax, business rates and general government grants) where the council has a legal duty to safeguard the welfare of children, young people leaving care and vulnerable adults when a person has “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF) and is excluded from mainstream welfare benefits.
This expenditure represents 0.032% of our Council Tax charge and 55p of the £1,691.19 Band D Council Tax charge for 2025 to 2026.