Powys residents will be facing an 8.9 per cent Council Tax rise from April.

Powys County Council’s Cabinet is expected to endorse a draft budget which includes the Council Tax hike at a meeting on 14 January.

It will see the average band D Council Tax bill in Powys go up to £2,236 a year up from this year’s £2,024, an increase of £182.80.

This proposed rise is less than the 13.5 per cent Council Tax rise that was floated by the Council Leader, Liberal Democrat Cllr James Gibson-Watt just before Christmas.

Following what was seen in Powys as a poor financial settlement from the Welsh Government, council number crunchers have been busy updating the budget proposal for next year.

The report said: “The impact of the Provisional Settlement together with wider updates to budget modelling resulted in an updated budget gap of £13.5 million.

“The position has continued to be updated, and the development of new proposals enables Cabinet to propose a balanced budget for 2025-26 with the inclusion of an 8.9 per cent increase in Council Tax.

“The setting of our budget, and in turn Council Tax, takes account of the full range of funding sources available to us, as well as the pressures we face.”

The council has calculated that to run its services next year it needs £378 million which is a £36.4 million increase from the £341.626 million this year.

The council calculates that it has £355.944 million to spend next year which leaves a budget gap of £22.120 million.

The extra money raised by Council Tax will bring that gap down by £9.833 million which means that £12.287 million in cuts, savings and efficiencies will need to be found during the year.