The majority of Saltford Parish Council’s income comes from the precept it levies. The precept for the 2026/2027 financial year was set by SPC at its January 2026 meeting. For 2026/2027, the precept for an average Band D property in Saltford will be £40.20 per year. This represents an increase of approximately 65p per month, or £7.76 per year, compared with 2025/2026. This represents a 25% increase in the precept. However, due to a change in the tax base, the increase will be shown as 23.9% on B&NES Council’s Council Tax letters.
Saltford Parish Council (SPC) recognises that any increase in the precept is of concern to residents, particularly in the current economic climate. The increase for 2026/27 is higher than in recent years, and SPC is keen to explain clearly why this is necessary. This page provides a summary of the key reasons. More detailed information is available on SPC’s ‘Precept‘ page.
The majority of SPC’s expenditure lines have remained unchanged from 2025/2026.
The increase in the precept for 2026/27 is driven by three main factors:
1. New charges from B&NES Council for elections
A key consideration for 2026/27 is the introduction of new charges for Saltford Parish Council by-elections and scheduled elections. These are new external costs and, until now, Saltford Parish Council has not been required to meet these expenses.
B&NES Council is the Elections Authority for Saltford and has advised SPC that, from April 2026, it will begin charging Parish and Town Councils for the cost of running elections. These charges are set by B&NES Council and are outside SPC’s control.
Based on information provided by B&NES Council ahead of SPC setting its precept, the indicative costs provided to SPC from B&NES Council are:
~ Scheduled elections (from May 2027): £4,700
~ Any by-elections (from April 2026): £6,600 per election
SPC has taken these anticipated costs into account as part of its forward financial planning, to ensure that it is able to meet its statutory responsibilities without disruption and avoid the need for sudden or larger increases in future years.
2. Essential maintenance at St Mary’s Churchyard
Saltford Parish Council (SPC) is legally responsible for maintaining the boundary walls at St Mary’s Church, as well as other maintenance requirements at the closed Churchyard. The precept reflects the Parish Council’s duty to meet these statutory responsibilities and ensure the safety maintenance of the site.
~ 2025/26 Costs: In 2025/26, a partial wall collapse and associated safety repairs, alongside routine maintenance (such as tree works), means that SPC will spend approximately £9,750 on Churchyard Special Maintenance Projects. This is around £7,250 over the original £2,500 budget due to the unexpected emergency repairs and further maintenance identified following the wall collapse.
~ 2026/27 Budget: Based on the experience of 2025/26, the Churchyard maintenance budget has been increased to £6,000 for planned repairs in 2026/27, with an additional £2,000 earmarked for emergency repairs if required.
~ Forward Planning: Further maintenance is expected to be required in 2026/27 and likely in future years, to ensure the ongoing safety of the Churchyard walls. This approach is informed by a structural survey of the walls conducted in 2025 and demonstrates SPC’s commitment to proactive, responsible maintenance of this important site in the village – as well as its legal responsibilities.
For more background, SPC’s 2022 article ‘Recent churchyard wall repairs & why SPC is responsible‘ provides comprehensive information about the Parish Council’s legal obligations and the types of works required to maintain the Churchyard’s historic walls. For more recent information on Churchyard Walls actions, please view our minutes.
3. New ‘Green Belt Defence’ budget line
Saltford Parish Council (SPC) has agreed to introduce a new annual budget of £5,000 (around £3 per household) to support its ongoing work to protect and defend Saltford’s Green Belt from development in the context of the B&NES Council Local Plan and/or from speculative planning applications that may threaten the Green Belt.
This decision was made under Item 12 at SPC’s December meeting. Any expenditure from this budget will be discussed and formally resolved at future Council meetings, ensuring transparency. As always, members of the public are welcome to participate during ‘Public Time’ before any decisions are made on any spend.
For information about SPC’s actions to date to protect the Green Belt and its responses to the B&NES Council Local Plan Options Consultations, please view our ‘Protecting Saltford’s Green Belt‘ page which includes a timeline, documents, maps and more.
Other changes to expenditure lines in 2026/27
Saltford Parish Council (SPC) has resolved that the majority of its expenditure budget lines will remain unchanged in 2026/27 compared with 2025/26. Any increases have been carefully planned to meet essential needs, statutory responsibilities, and agreed priorities.
Three expenditure lines are to be increased (bar VAT, as this is reclaimed) and one reduced in 2026/27.
~ An increase of £1,000 was added to ‘General Administration’ (to accommodate spend enacted mid-year in 2025/26 resolved in September 2025).
~ An increase of £2,000 to ‘Staffing’ (increased in line with inflation to cover annual national pay scale increases – these are TBC for 26/27, though these have not been above inflation in recent years).
~ SPC’s ‘Special Churchyard Maintenance Projects’ line has also been increased, as mentioned above under the ‘Essential maintenance at St Mary’s Churchyard’ information and detailed further on our ‘Precept’ page.
The only reduction in the 2026/27 budget is in the ‘Environment’ line, which has been decreased by £250 due to lower demand on this specific budget over the past two financial years. Other grants and expenditure lines remain available to support environmental initiatives as needed, depending on the nature of any proposed spend.
Year-end budget positions are available in SPC’s Monthly Financial Reports, which are published alongside Full Council agendas and formally recorded in the Council’s minutes.
Action taken by SPC to prevent even higher precept rise in consideration of increased spend
In consideration of the three factors listed above and so as not to incur an even higher precept rise, SPC resolved a precept increase which did not reach SPC’s financial recommendations in-year, but would be projected to move towards an appropriate level over a timescale greater than one and less than two (e.g. SPC’s recommended reserves should reach recommended levels in 2027/28).
More detailed information on SPC’s 2026/2027 precept
The decision on SPC’s 2026/27 precept reflects SPC’s position as a fiscally responsible Council. More detailed information about the above and how SPC’s precept is spent can be found on SPC’s website on its ‘Finance’ page at https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/finance/#precept
How SPC’s precept compares with the B&NES area and nationally
Parish and Town Councils submit their precept requests to B&NES Council in early 2026. Once B&NES Council has collated this information, it publishes details of the precepts for all 50+ Town and Parish Councils in the area, alongside other information related to the Council Tax bill. SPC will share how its precept compares with other local councils once the 2026/27 data is available. (Band D is used as the standard national benchmark for comparing precept and council tax levels between different local councils and authorities.)
In previous years, Saltford Parish Council has consistently levied one of the lowest precepts in the B&NES Council area. In 2025/26 SPC levied the fourth lowest precept for an average Band D property. The average in B&NES for 2025/26 was £59.11. Nationally in 2025/26 it was £92.22.
Based on last year’s figures – and taking into account that many Town and Parish Councils are likely to include election costs in their 2026/27 budgets – SPC’s average Band D precept of £40.20 per year is expected to remain one of the lowest in the B&NES Council area, reflecting careful financial management while meeting essential responsibilities.
How does SPC share information about its precept?
SPC looks to share information about its precept online on its dedicated ‘Finance‘ page, on its social media, on the noticeboard (by the shops), and in its SCAN page article – this is further to SPC’s published agendas and minutes (view our Meetings – Agendas and Minutes‘ page, also on our noticeboard).
SPC also welcomes residents to its meetings which are held in public; agendas are published in advance of our meetings. Members of the public can address the Council during ‘Public Time’ on any items to be resolved ahead of the Council making its decision later in the meeting. Information can be found on the ‘Meetings – Agendas and Minutes’ page linked above.
We hope that residents find the above information, the information on our ‘Precept‘ page, and details in SPC’s minutes helpful in understanding the reasons behind the increase in SPC’s precept for 2026/27.
For more information about what is included in your Council Tax, please visit B&NES’s Council’s ‘What is Council Tax‘ page. B&NES Council also has information on ‘Council Tax bands and charges‘ on their website.