TAUNTON Deane residents are facing an increase in their council tax which is double the amount of its West Somerset neighbours under the new council.

The shadow authority of Somerset West and Taunton Council, the new council set to commence following the May elections, has been working out its council tax precept, but unlike previous years, it has to merge the two prices.

The plans are set to be finalised at a meeting on Thursday night, but councillors are likely to approve a £5 increase - for Taunton Deane residents only.

The current Band D council tax precept amount in Taunton Deane is £152.88, and £155.56 in West Somerset.

But as West Somerset residents are already paying more, the council has been told to ‘harmonise’ the rate for 2019/20.

This would see an increase to £157.88, an extra £5 for Taunton Deane residents but only an extra £2.32 for West Somerset.

Federica Smith, Liberal Democrat and scrutiny committee member, said this sort of situation is what the opposition party feared when plans to join the two councils first emerged.

She said: “The equalisation shows Taunton Deane residents will be paying more to match West Somerset.

“It’s disappointing.

“It’s one of the arguments we said all along when the discussion to make a new council began.

“We didn’t want to, for lack of a better phrase, ‘bail out’ West Somerset, and this demonstrates exactly that.

“In terms of equalising in one year, I think the administration and officers said it would be to prevent services being cut.

“This was generally accepted. In my personal view, I agree with raising council tax if you can demonstrate you are giving a better service, not for fears services will be cut.”

The council was given the option of ‘harmonising’ over a number of years, but they decided to do the full amount straight away.

A spokesman for TDBC said: “The new council is required to address the issue of the different amounts of council tax that have been previously set by the former councils of Taunton Deane and West Somerset.

“The new council is required to set a ‘harmonised’ council tax rate such that all residents within the new council area pay the same amount of district level council tax relative to the banding of their property.

“Although legislation would have allowed for harmonisation to be implemented over a number of years, the relative closeness of the existing band D council tax amounts, means that for practical purposes harmonisation could be implemented immediately.”