Residents in Machynlleth will face the highest average council tax bills in the whole of Powys at more than £2,300 a year, figures have shown as Powys councillors formally signed off on setting the council tax for 2024/25.

At a meeting of Powys County Council on Thursday, 7 March councillors met to formally set the council tax which is an annual legal requirement that’s needed before bills can start to be sent out to residents.

On 22 February , the council had debated and agreed a 7.5 per cent council tax increase for the 2024/2025 budget as well as cuts of over £10.5 million that need to be made in order to balance the books next year.

The new tax rise will mean that residents in average Band D properties in Machynlleth will face a bill from April of £2,372 – the highest in the county.

Llanidloes residents will see an average tax bill of £2,072, while those in Llanbrynmair will see a shade over £2,000.

Llandinam residents will pay an average of £2,032, with the bill reaching £2,036 in Rhayader.

Council tax is made up of three components, the biggest being payment for services from a principal authority such as Powys which includes education, social services, rubbish collection and highway maintenance, but a levy called a precept is also charged by the local police force, Dyfed-Powys Police and also from town or community councils.

Earlier this year Dyfed Powys police approved a precept increase of 6.2 per cent which takes the annual cost up to £332.03 for a Band D property.

In recent months town and community councils in the county have been meeting to discuss their own financial needs and decide the amount of precept to levy on their areas.

All these elements are brought together so that a total Council Tax bill is calculated.

Director of corporate services and s151 officer Jane Thomas told members at the meeting: “This does not re-open the budget debate that was approved the week before, this is just the calculation around what was approved.

“It’s important that we set the Council Tax before 11 March to meet some of our statutory requirements and any delay would have a significant impact on cashflow, both for this council and other precepting authorities, it’s important to note that.

Councillors approved the new tax level with 34 councillors voting in favour 12 against and 14 abstentions.