COUNCIL tax will freeze for the coming year after Scottish Borders Council (SBC) received Scottish Government funding.

A report due to be discussed at a full council meeting on Wednesday, February 21 will outline the plans.

For 2024/25 SBC will not increase council tax for Borders residents after accepting £3.2 million of funding from the Scottish Government.

Prior to the Scottish Government's October 2023 announcement of its intentions to freeze council tax from April 1, 2024, SBC had planned to increase council tax by four per cent - providing £2.9 million in additional funding.

However, the freeze and funding boost from the Scottish Government is equivalent to a five per cent increase on council tax nationally and gives SBC £0.3 million more than the local authority had budgeted for in February 2023.

Councillor Mark Rowley, executive member for service delivery and transformation, said: “Council Tax makes up around a fifth of our funding but is crucial income which helps us to maintain services right across the region, supporting all areas of our budget.

“A freeze benefits householders’ budgets and the funding from the Scottish Government compensates the Council.

"However, due to continued financial pressures, we will be required to make further savings in our next budget.”

The council will be setting its budget later this month on February 29.

While council tax will not increase from April 1, Scottish Water announced that it would be increasing its charges for water and waste water services by 8.8 per cent.

SBC collects these charges on behalf of the utility firm as part of the overall bill households receive for their council tax.

With this increase from Scottish Water, for the financial year 2024/25 (from April 1, 2024) household bills collected by SBC will stand at:

  • Band A - £904.07
  • Band B - £1,054.75
  • Band C - £1,205.43
  • Band D - £1,356.11
  • Band E - £1,781.78
  • Band F - £2,203.68
  • Band G - £2,655.72
  • Band H - £3,322.47