Council Tax 2026 to 2027
For 2026 to 2027, 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 12 February 2026, the County Council approved a 3.986% Council Tax increase to help balance the 2026 to 2027 budget. This equates to approximately £5.62 extra per month for a band D household.
The 3.986% 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 2025 to 2026 | Increase of 3.986% | Total charge for 2026 to 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,127.46 | £44.94 | £1,172.40 |
| B | £1,315.37 | £52.43 | £1,367.80 |
| C | £1,503.28 | £59.92 | £1,563.20 |
| D | £1,691.19 | £67.41 | £1,758.60 |
| E | £2,067.01 | £82.39 | £2,149.40 |
| F | £2,442.83 | £97.37 | £2,540.20 |
| G | £2,818.65 | £112.35 | £2,931.00 |
| H | £3,382.38 | £134.82 | £3,517.20 |
Read more about our 2026 to 2027 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 2026 to 2027 our taxbase is 592,148.73.
592,148.73 multiplied by the band D charge of £1,758.60 equals £1,041,352,757. 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 2026 to 2027.
| Source of funding | Amount (to nearest £1000) |
|---|---|
| Council Tax requirement | 1,041,352.8 |
| Grants within core spending power and other un-ringfenced grants | 526,480.3 |
| Local share of business rates | 79,689.0 |
| Council’s share of Council Tax and business rates collection funds | 6,979.5 |
| Net budget requirement | 1,654,501.6 |
| Typical Council Tax bill breakdown (Band D) | % increase on 2025 to 2026 Council Tax bill | Amount for 2026 to 2027 (Band D) |
|---|---|---|
| Kent County Council (single combined charge including Adult Social Care Precept)* | 3.986% | £1,758.60 This is the share of a Band D Council Tax bill that Kent County Council will receive in 2026 to 2027. |
| Kent Police and Crime Commissioner | 5.55% | £285.15 |
| Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue | 5.22% | £99.81 |
| 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. |
* KCC no longer publishes or displays a separate Adult Social Care (ASC) Precept. From 1 April 2025, councils are no longer required to show ASC precept amounts separately on bills, following national guidance.
KCC’s charge is therefore shown as a single combined amount only.
This aligns with the combined referendum principle (3% core + 2% ASC flexibility).
How your Council Tax is spent by our main services
| Service | % Council Tax | Amount for band D |
|---|---|---|
| Adults and older people | 48.49% | £852.83 |
| Children's social care | 16.31% | £286.76 |
| Transport services | 7.26% | £127.70 |
| Management, support services and overheads | 6.56% | £115.42 |
| Borrowing costs, contributions to/from reserves and other corporate costs | 6.34% | £111.45 |
| Waste services | 5.59% | £98.24 |
| Highways | 2.96% | £52.01 |
| Children's other services | 1.83% | £32.13 |
| Costs of running our operational premises | 1.64% | £28.79 |
|
Other direct services to the public (incl Public Protection, Environment, Regeneration, Planning and Local Democracy) | 1.51% | £26.58 |
| Community services | 1.10% | £19.34 |
| Schools' services | 0.42% | £7.35 |
| Total: | 100.00% | £1,758.60 |
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 0.031% of our Council Tax charge and 55p of the £1,758.60 Band D Council Tax charge for 2026 to 2027.
Following the Fair Funding Review and the 2026 to 2027 Final Local Government Settlement, grants previously targeted at Adult Social Care are now provided as general grants. As a result, a larger share of council tax now funds Adult Social Care, while a smaller share comes from grants.