Council tax helps fund local services like schools, social care, waste collection, street lighting, leisure & culture, emergency services and much more.
Council tax is charged on the household and is based on the value of the property. The amount of council tax you pay depends on the property band that your house is in. The Valuation Office (VOA) determine these bands.
The amount you pay also depends on whether you are entitled to any exemptions or discounts.
See Council tax explanatory notes for more information.
How much do I have to pay?
To find out how much council tax you will pay, you will need to know the community council and council tax band that your property is in. You can then check this against our charge per band table
Based on an average Band D property the total charge for 2025/26 is £2,277.19, compared with £2,110.67 in 2024/25. This charge is broken down as follows:
| 2024/25 | 2025/26 | % Increase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monmouthshire County Council | £1,686.70 | £1,818.26 | 7.80 |
| Police & Crime Commissioner | £349.52 | £377.31 | 7.95 |
| Community Council | £74.45 | £81.62 | 9.63 |
| TOTAL | £2,110.67 | £2,277.19 | 7.89 |
From 1st April 2024 long term empty properties and second homes in the County are subject to a Council Tax Premium. This is an additional amount of council tax to be paid on top of the standard council tax bill.
For long term empty properties a 100% premium will apply to properties empty for more than one year, a 200% premium will apply to properties empty for more than two years and a 300% premium will apply to properties empty for 3 years or more.
For second homes a 100% premium will be charged, although businesses moving from the commercial list (business rates) to the domestic list (council tax) will be exempt from the premium for 12 months. During which time standard council tax will still be payable.
More information about council tax premiums can be found here
Council Tax is made up of three elements
- Monmouthshire County Council’s budget for 2025/26 includes a council tax increase of 7.8%
The gross revenue budget for the Authority (excluding sums collected on behalf of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent and Community Council) is £214,489,698. The overall level of usable revenue reserves is currently forecast to be £13,865,312 at the end of the financial year.
The budget put into place includes a wide range of additional investment:
- £7.4m more invested into Education including additional support for additional learning needs and investment in specialist resource bases, helping children stay in their local schools;
- £7.3m into Social care for Children and Adults including investment in our Foster carer service to retain and recruit valued carers and to recognise their essential skills, patience, time, and the resources that it takes to support some of the most vulnerable children in our County
- Waste collections will remain the same. Leisure centres, recycling centres, libraries and community hubs all remain open to continue to provide vital local services;
- and a further £2.3m into the maintenance of roads, pavements and other highways infrastructure
For details of how this money is spent see here
2. The Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent has increased the amount it needs from council taxpayers in 2025/26 by 7.95%. For details of how this money is spent see here.
3. Community Councils the average Band D charge for 2025/26 has increased by 9.63%. Charges will vary per community council and the amount charged will depend on where you live.
To see the expected annual spend and the Band D charge for the community council that you live in look at our charge per band table. For details of how this money is spent you need to contact your community council. Contact details can be found here Community Councils contact information.
How your Council Tax is spent
Council tax pays for local services like schools, social care services, waste collection, maintenance of roads and structures, street lighting, leisure & culture, emergency services and much more.
Most of the council tax goes to the Local authority, Monmouthshire County Council, to spend on local services but parts also go to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent and Community Councils.
The council also receives income from business rates, government grants, other fees and charges, all of which contribute towards the cost of providing council services.
Council tax also contributes to other costs and services including the management of council buildings, costs associated with policy, strategy and communication, the costs of running the revenue and benefits service and borrowing costs.
2025/26 Budget
The council spending is split into two categories called revenue and capital.
The council’s budget plan sees an overall revenue budget for 2025/26 of £236.8 million. This includes sums collected on behalf of the Police (£18.3 million), and Town & Community Councils (£3.96 million).
The revenue budget will be financed by:
- Revenue support grant from Welsh Government of £100.6 million
- Non-Domestic rate redistribution of £34.6 million
- Council Tax (MCC) of £88.3 million
- Council Tax (Police and crime commissioner for Gwent) of £18.3 million
- Council Tax (Community Councils) of £3.96 million
The Council’s budget also sees a capital investment of £29.2 million for 2025/26.
This capital expenditure will look to support:
- investment in our infrastructure including highways structures, carriageways, footpaths, public rights of way, and property estate
- completion of the new 3-19 school in Abergavenny;
- investment in inclusion schemes including disabled facilities grants and access for all schemes;
- investment in our ICT and network estate to improve the resilience of our service delivery
Medium term financial planning
The council’s medium term financial strategy (MTFS) is the foundation of our financial planning and outlines the financial challenges and risks we face in the medium term.
The MTFS requires the Councils medium term financial plan (MTFP) to be updated regularly, and the next iteration will focus on the increasing challenges with sustaining and maintaining existing levels of service delivery in an environment of increasing demand and costs, combined with the risk and uncertainty around funding settlements projected over the medium term.
It will outline the updated risks, impacts and implications of addressing a medium term budget deficit, focussing on the strategies available to the Council to enable a sustainable financial model in the future that looks to support efficient and effective public services for Monmouthshire’s communities. This will be in line with the priorities outlined in the Council’s draft Community and Corporate plan and various enabling plans that feed into it.