District Council to discuss budget proposals

Residents could see a 3% increase in Council Tax when district councillors consider draft budget proposals at a meeting on Tuesday 13th January.

The budget proposals set out plans for a gross spend of £45 million to deliver local services in 2026/27, including planning, leisure, parks and playgrounds, parking, housing, environmental health, refuse and recycling, and street cleaning.

To balance the books, the council will have to find savings or generate additional income to close a £890,000 budget gap, bringing the total savings achieved since 2020 to £10 million.

For 2026/27, this has been delivered primarily through proposed changes to car park operational hours, tariffs and maximum stay periods; fees and charges rising in line with inflation; and a move from a lease model to an agency agreement with Everyone Active, which runs the council’s leisure facilities

The council has also set aside £0.5 million this year to meet anticipated costs associated with Local Government Reorganisation, with a government decision expected later this year on how local councils in Hertfordshire will be reorganised into unitary authorities.

Continued reductions in government funding mean that achieving a balanced budget remains challenging. As a result, once again we have had to make difficult decisions to protect the services residents rely on. Although the council has received a three-year funding settlement from government, funding levels are expected to decline further over the next two years, adding to the ongoing financial pressure.

Council tax accounts for only around 27% of our total funding, which is why these pressures are so hard to manage.

However, we remain committed to investing wisely and focusing our spending on the priorities that matter most, working closely with our communities.

:: Councillor Carl Brittain, Executive Member for Financial Sustainability

The proposals will be considered by a joint meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny and Audit and Governance Committees on 28 January 2026, ahead of final approval by Full Council in March.