Shepton Mallet Town Council is predicting that its share of the council tax precept could rise by up to 48 per cent in April to take on additional services in the town.

The projected rise is a measure to manage additional services in the town amid the financial turmoil engulfing Somerset Council.

Somerset Council finds itself in a dire financial strait, having declared a 'financial emergency' last November. Initially, the authority faced a predicted overspend of £27 million for the year, which has since been revised to £18.7 million. Moreover, a daunting budget gap of £100 million for the next year now stands at £87 million.

The council is considering selling off some of its assets to bridge this gap.

Jason Vaughan, the council's chief financial officer, highlighted the gravity of the situation: "There is a significant amount of work taking place to reduce the budget gap; however, we will not be able to set a balanced budget for 2024/25 without government support through a capitalisation direction."

Deputy leader Liz Leyshon voiced her disappointment with the recent autumn statement, lamenting the lack of additional central government funding for local authorities. She criticised the government's short-term approach to funding councils and adult social care, saying, "I can see the lanes and roads all across this country full of cans being kicked down the road."

The ongoing phosphates crisis further exacerbates the council's predicament. Councillor Ros Wyke pointed out the impact of delayed housing developments on the council tax base: "We have 18,000 houses sitting and waiting to go in the planning system, and that's not including the ones that are on hold at an earlier stage."

Failure to balance the budget could lead to the issuance of a Section 114 notice, effectively handing over control to government-appointed commissioners. Council leader Bill Revans emphasised their commitment to addressing this challenge: "We will take these hard decisions, working with national government, our communities and our partners to minimise the impacts on our residents and achieve the best outcome possible in this awful situation."

A spokesperson for Shepton Mallet Town Council said: "The budget and precept setting process is still underway and has been extended due to the situation with Somerset and new information coming in daily.

"The Town Council is engaging with the community to understand what needs to be done to ensure that Shepton Mallet continues to receive the level of service it needs and how those costs can be met. The Council is due to meet on 9th January to decide whether to set the budget and precept at that point or wait until the end of January for any additional information that might be coming forward from Somerset Council.

"What is key to understand is that the Town Council's precept is only a small proportion of the Council Tax. For example, in the current year, Somerset Council's portion of the Council is 74% of the bill and the town council is merely 10%. This means that even if the Council was to put its precept up by 48% (and this is by no means decided upon yet) that would mean, for a Band D household, that it would cost £28.40 per month, that is £6.55 per week or less than £1 per day.

"For this money, the Council provides grants to local not-for-profit organisations to deliver free and subsidised services in the town; it maintains Collett Park to Green Flag standard, it provides free events, working to improve economic regeneration and make improvements to the town. Many of the households in Shepton Mallet are lower than band D so the cost would be even less."