GWYNEDD’S county council has taken the “difficult decision” to raise council tax by 8.66% from April.
The council said the figure has been finalised in a bid to protect vital services for some of the most vulnerable in the county such as adults and children needing care.
The increase will mean people living in a Band D property will pay £1,907.47 in council tax in the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of £2.92 per week or £152.02 annually.
The North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority levy represented 0.43% of the increase.
Members of Cyngor Gwynedd approved the increase during a meeting on Thursday, March 6.
Salary increases for staff, the rise in National Insurance and more demand for services had added £26m to the budgetary needs of the council, the meeting heard.
Cllr Huw Wyn Jones, Cyngor Gwynedd’s cabinet member for finance, said it was “disappointing” to have set the council tax rise of 8.66%.
He described how the council had faced a “substantial” over-spend of £8.2m this year, with £7m of that in the care field, the adults and children and family department.
The council had seen a rise in demand for services while the cost of delivering them had gone up.
“It is a double whammy,” he said.
A funding settlement from the Welsh Government had come in at £3.8m, slightly more than the anticipated £3.2m, but was still “disappointing”.
He claimed the increase had been thanks to leader Cllr Nia Jeffreys and other councils in Wales lobbying for more cash.
The budget had been funded through a combination of Welsh Government funding and council tax.
Any funding gap would be bridged using the council’s reserves, which Cllr Jones said was a “cause for concern”.
“We don’t want to use them,” he said.
But the council had to provide essential services such as educating local children, providing waste and recycling collection services, gritting the county’s roads and providing home care to vulnerable children and adults, he said.
The electricity bills of schools, libraries, care homes and other council buildings were also going up, he added.
The rise in employer National Insurance contributions had also led to an additional cost of £4.5m for the authority.
There were now more vulnerable children requiring care packages and more older people in need of support, while homelessness continues to be a “serious problem”.
“Over the past decade, Cyngor Gwynedd has had to cut almost a quarter of our day-to-day revenue budget, which equates to approximately £74m,” he said.
“Our essential services are being eroded as the money we receive from the Government does not increase at the same rate as our costs or service demand.
“The report presented to members today explained that we as a council need to increase our spending by £25.8m in order to provide the same level of service as last year.
“However, we are only receiving an additional £8.6m from the Government.
“We are legally required to set a balanced budget for 2025/26, and as a consequence of these factors, we must continue to search for every way to cut our costs and unfortunately increase the tax.
“Despite this difficult financial position, I am pleased that we as a council have committed to safeguard school budgets and care services for vulnerable adults and children.”
Councillor Nia Jeffreys, leader of the council, told the meeting: “Here we are again facing the extremely difficult task of setting a balanced budget for the people of our county after 15 years of austerity and cuts and saving worth over £75m.”
She said the settlement from the Welsh Government was amongst the “lowest” in Wales.
“The task we face is more challenging than ever,” she added.
“None of us want to see tax increases and I am concerned that there are households in Gwynedd which are finding it difficult to make ends meet.”
She urged anyone struggling to contact the council team, see its website for information, or phone 01286 682700. Help was also available at community hubs.
