The money collected through Council Tax helps pay for a proportion of Devon County Council services for more than 842,000 people in the Devon county area.
To pay Council Tax, contact your local council. They’ll register you and send you a Council Tax bill. They’ll also tell you how and when to pay.
For 2026/27, for an average band D property, the Council Tax charge from DCC will be £1,891.17 (£1,801.26 in 2025/26). This is an increase of 4.99% or £89.91.
The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026/27 was published by the government on 17 December 2025. The Final Settlement figures were published on 9 February 2026, in advance of Parliamentary debate on 11 February 2026.
The Local Government Finance Settlement 2026/27 to 2028/29 is the first multi year settlement in over a decade, which includes the one year settlement for 2026/27 and indicative settlement figures for 2027/28 and 2028/29.
This follows the Fair Funding Consultation 2.0 launched by government in June 2025, and the subsequent confirmation of updated funding formulas, consolidation of over 30 separate funding streams and business rates re-set. As a result, 2026/27 will see the most significant change to local government funding in over a decade.
It is well publicised that local authorities across the country continue to face financial challenges. The Council’s leadership has worked with service leads and finance officers to develop plans to manage net service costs within affordable financial targets.
Despite the financial pressures faced the Council is able to set a balanced budget with affordable service targets that are increased by 4.1% as detailed below.
Delivery of the savings and the improvements in services through change programmes will not be easy but the level of commitment from teams working together as one organisation and the level of assurance gained through the rigorous budget process provide confidence in the ability of services to deliver within financial targets.
Council Tax is collected by your district council and distributed across a number of local public authorities:
- Devon County Council uses Council Tax to provide education, roads, care for older people and people with disabilities, child protection, youth services, libraries, and recycling centres and waste disposal services.
- Your district council uses Council Tax to provide refuse collection, kerbside recycling, housing, planning, street cleaning and leisure services.
- Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner uses Council Tax to provide law and order and crime reduction.
- Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority uses Council Tax to provide fire prevention and fire and rescue services.
- Your local town and parish councils use Council Tax to provide local amenities.
Your Council Tax band is decided by the listing officer from the Valuation Office and is based on the open market value of a property on 1 April 1991. All properties are placed into one of eight bands and the band for your home will be shown on your bill. In some cases, a Council Tax bill is decided on the number of adults living in the household.
Devon County Council charge for each band
| Band A | Band B | Band C | Band D | Band E | Band F | Band G | Band H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,260.78 | £1,470.91 | £1,681.04 | £1,891.17 | £2,311.43 | £2,731.69 | £3,151.95 | £3,782.34 |
The total amount you will pay includes taxes payable to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority, your local district council and in some cases your local parish or town council.
Devon County Council is a precepting authority and does not administrate council tax. Enquiries about payments, rebates or benefits should be made to your district or city council.
Adult social care 2026/27
Council Tax bills for 2026/27 include the adult social care component.
More information about Adult social care 2026/27.
How your Council Tax is spent
Devon County Council plans to spend £2,104 million (gross) this year (£1,987 million in 2025/26) on providing services to more than 842,000 people in Devon.
Just under £1,494 million (just over £1,415 million 2025/26) of this comes from income we receive from government grants, business rates, fees and charges and distribution of previous year’s surplus of Council Tax which leaves a council tax requirement for 2026/27 of £610.260 million (£572.489 million 2025/26).
More information about our spending plans for 2026/27 can be found at Budgets.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government statement
The Secretary of State made an offer to adult social care authorities. (‘Adult social care authorities’ are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.)
The offer was the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional ‘precept’ on its council tax without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting its expenditure on adult social care from the financial year 2016/17. It was originally made in respect of the financial years up to and including 2019/20. If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to the approval of the House of Commons.