There are strong hints that council tax in Bracknell Forest could increase substantially from April, as councillors try to plug a £5 million hole in the budget.

Bracknell Forest Council leaders are set to reveal how much they think council tax should be when they meet on Tuesday, February 6.

Budget documents don’t yet include firm proposals for new council tax rates from April 6. But draft spending plans say the council will need to rely on council tax more and more to fund frontline services to residents.

The plans say: “The current level of council tax in Bracknell Forest is one of the lowest of any unitary authority in England.

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“While a high level of increase in any year is unlikely to be welcomed by residents, for many years the council’s financial plans have assumed the maximum level of increase permitted is applied.”

Government rules say that councils that run social services – such as Bracknell Forest – can only increase council tax by a maximum of 4.99 per cent. If they want to raise taxes any higher, they have to organise a referendum for residents to vote on whether they agree.

Currently the average ‘band D’ valued home – the baseline – in Bracknell Forest pays £1,934.70 a year in council tax.

But if the council decides to raise this by the maximum 4.99 per cent from April, that will go up to £2,031.24 a year.

The lowest-valued properties – in band A – pay council tax worth six ninths of a band D home. That means a maximum increase in Bracknell Forest would raise the average band A annual bill from £1,289.79 a year to £1,354.15.

On the other end of the scale, the highest valued homes – band H – pay twice that of a band D property. They could pay £4,062.48 a year—up from £3,869.40 currently.

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Bracknell Forest Council says it needs to plug a gap in its proposed budget for the year beginning April 6. Councils across the country are struggling to make ends meet, finding that their funding isn’t enough to cover increased costs.

The council’s draft spending plans – which already include some cutbacks – amount to some £98.82 million. But its expected income – including from council tax, business rates and government grants – is expected to be £93.54 million. That’s roughly £5.34 million short.

Finance chiefs say one of the ways councillors can help to plug the gap is by raising council tax. If council tax stayed at the current level, it would bring in an estimated £76.49 million a year. Rough calculations suggest that if this increased by 5 per cent it could bring in an extra £3.8 million.

The executive committee – the ruling group of councillors – will decide how much they think council tax should rise at a meeting on Tuesday, February 6. This will then have to be voted on by a meeting of the whole council on February 21.