Fareham residents face increase in 2024 council tax

By Connor Steel

FAREHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL have announced that the cost of council tax will be increased for their residents from April 2024 after it carried out an ‘annual review’; which found that reduced Government funding and the current inflation rates will leave the local authority with “financial pressure” as it continues to meet the current / future needs of the area.

This announcement was made in a media release on Monday (February 26) and will impact all paying residents across Fareham, who will be expected to pay the small increase of 3% for the 2024-25 financial year. This equates to a rise of approximately 1p per day for most homes in the borough, making it the fifth lowest council tax rate in England this year.

The majority of council tax funds are paid forward to Hampshire County Council annually; which ‘provides’ some crucial services such as schools, adult social care and highway maintenance. Hampshire Constabulary and the Fire & Rescue Service do receive a share whilst less than ten percent goes to aiding Fareham Borough Council to offer core services.

Councillors have outlined their continued commitments to the “responsible management” of council finances in order to provide services at a reasonable cost to their residents; the current rates said to be thirty-percent below the nationwide average. All services will remain secure as a result of this increase including rubbish and maintenance of certain areas.

The council are further keen to build upon a ‘positive position’ for the Borough after a successful couple of years; which include the purchase and redevelopment of Fareham Shopping Centre alongside the Daedalus business site. They are further set to announce new updates regarding the Multi-storey demolition and first events to be held at ‘Fareham Live’.

Readers can view full comments from Fareham Borough Council’s leader, Cllr Sean Woodward, by clicking here; whilst all further information about how the council finances are managed is available to be downloaded in PDF format online.

PICTURED BY ALAMY (DFKPBG): All Fareham residents will face an extra 3% increase in their ‘council tax’ from April.