The council tax bills that Herefordshire households in the county will have to pay from next month are about to be finalised.

Councillors already agreed last month that the main chunk of council tax, which goes to the county council, would go up by the maximum 4.99 per cent, or by £89.15 for a typical valuation band D property.

But the bill householders receive includes further amounts, known as precepts, which pay for services provided by local parish and town councils and by local police and fire services. These are due to be confirmed by councillors tomorrow (March 8).

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The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia has set its increase at 4.91 per cent across the three counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire, putting its precept at £277.50 for a band D property.

Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority has meanwhile set an increase of 2.99 per cent, to £97.22 at band D.

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So across Herefordshire a typical band-D property will pay £1,954.79 for financial year 2024/25, or £162.90 a month, including an average annual parish precept of £79.03.

But the local precept varies considerably across the county, from just £2.22 for the Aconbury “parish meeting” south of Hereford, to £190.25 in Leominster, up 4.7 per cent.

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Hereford city earlier voted to hold its precept at £56.86, and 50 of the county’s 140 parishes will actually cut theirs. But the biggest increase will be at Richard’s Castle, which goes up 64 per cent to £115.94.

Bands: the big difference

A much bigger factor in how much you actually pay is the valuation band of your property.

For Hereford, this can range from £1,288.42 plus police and fire precepts for a band A property (valued at under £40,000 in 1991), to £1,932.62 for the “typical” band D, up to £3,865.24 for a band H property (worth over £320,000 in 1991).

The largest bill in the county will therefore be for a band H house in Leominster, which will pay £4,132.02 plus emergency service precepts.