A Council Tax rise of 9.75% has been proposed by leaders in Carmarthenshire to help deal with significant spending pressures while trying to protect essential services like education.

The figure could change between now and the end of February when full council sets the 2025-26 budget.

As things currently stand the authority is line to receive an extra £25.1 million from the Welsh Government, which funds the majority of a council’s budget, to cover pay rises and teacher pension costs among other things. It’s a rise of 4.1% compared to this year.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on January 13, Cllr Alun Lenny, cabinet member for resources, said: “Although this is a large sum, it’s nowhere near enough to meet the increased costs we must fund just to keep services at the same level.”

Council leader Darren Price said a funding increase of around 7% was needed, according to council representative group the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).

Carmarthenshire Council is facing inflationary costs and significant demographic pressures, such as an ageing population and extra demand for pupil referral unit classes.

It is planning to make £8.6 million of savings in 2025-26 to help offset some of these pressures, although some of the measures will be increases to fees and charges rather than cuts. They include reducing domiciliary care visits to people’s homes from four visits to three per day in some instances, cutting school patrols from 32 to 20, increasing school meal charges in secondary schools, and transferring the management of public toilets to other organisations.

The Plaid Cymru-Independent administration does not propose asking schools, which are overspending collectively, to play their part in savings but budget papers show this in turn creates a need for extra council tax revenue. The cabinet report said schools needed to act quickly to get back into the black and accept that “difficult decisions will need to be taken”.

The proposed 9.75% council tax hike would mean band D households paying around £156 extra for services next year. They currently pay £1602.08p, and this doesn’t include the Dyfed-Powys Police precept or community council costs.

Cllr Lenny said: “I fully appreciate that residents will be dismayed by the proposed council tax increase, but I hope that this report sets out the reasons for the proposed increase.”

He said it sought to protect key services while acknowledging other pressures on people’s finances, such as a freeze on income tax personal allowances – the amount you can earn before you start paying income tax. People can air their views as part of an ongoing budget consultation.

Cllr Lenny added: “I wish to assure everyone that cabinet members will continue to work with our officers to try to curtail the council tax increase as far as possible, while also recognising the consultation responses and the uncertainty around the budget.”

On the plus side, lower energy costs compared to previous years is providing the council with an extra £1 million to tackle the pressures. Further revenue is likely from April when second home-owners face a 100% council tax premium – the premium this year is 50%.

Seconding the report, Cllr Aled Vaughan Owen said he believed it was a considered approach given the “immense financial challenges”, and evidence of an “unwavering commitment” to the future of children and young people in the county. He acknowledged the proposed council tax rise was “substantial”.

Plaid leader, Cllr Price, said all councils faced difficult times. “It is certainly not the budget I would want to be presented but the scale of the spending pressures we face next year means that we have little choice,” he said.

Cllr Price said every local government group in Wales had signed a WLGA letter to the Welsh Government after its provisional budget was published last month, saying the proposed 4.3% increase in local government funding across the country fell well short of what was needed. Without extra funding, it said, authorities faced service cuts and “double digit” council tax rises.

Opposition Labour leader, Cllr Deryk Cundy said his party was studying the budget proposals for the first time. He was pleased, he said, that the provisional funding from central government was “the largest that Carmarthenshire Council has ever received”.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government said its final budget will be set next month. She said: “Our draft budget for 2025-26 sets out plans for local authorities in Wales to receive £6.1 billion in core revenue funding and non-domestic rates to spend on delivering key services – an increase of 4.3%, or £253 million on a like-for-like basis, compared to the current year.”