How your Council Tax is spent
Council Tax makes up 78% of our external income.
Our costs continue to rise due to inflation, and we have an increasing demand for services to protect, support and care for our vulnerable adults and children. We're more dependent than ever on the income we receive from Council Tax to deliver the services our residents rely on each day.
Your Council Tax helps pay for vital local services, including:
- housing
- caring for people in need
- roads and transport
- libraries
- protecting our environment
- bin collections
- recycling
How the council is funded
| Source of funding | Percentage of our funding | Amount of funding |
|---|---|---|
| Council Tax | 78.4% | £452.7 million |
| Council Tax surplus (one-off) | 1.2% | £7 million |
| Business Rates | 12.5% | £71.9 million |
| New Homes Bonus | 0.7% | £3.8 million |
| Other grants | 7.2% | £41.8 million |
Who spends your Council Tax
When you pay your Council Tax, this money is shared with other local service providers.
- Buckinghamshire Council
- Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley Area
- Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority
- Parish and town councils
Find out how much of your Council Tax goes towards town and parish councils: Parish precepts 2025/26 PDF, 167 KB.
How we plan to spend it
Buckinghamshire Council has a total budget of £577 million for 2025/26.
View the budget for 2025/26 and previous budgets.