Lincolnshire County Council’s executive will consider first draft budget proposals at its meeting on Tuesday 6 January 2026.
The proposals put forward how the council will fund services over the next financial year from the income it receives.
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, Cllr Sean Matthews, said:
“We are delivering on our promises to the residents who elected us by finding millions of pounds of savings in next year’s budget – by eliminating any wasteful spending and by taking advantage of new technology to do things differently.
“We want to get this council into a stronger financial position so that we can invest in future years, without relying on more borrowing and adding to the historic debt that we’ve inherited, built up by previous administrations.
“Although the provisional figures we’ve had from government gives us some additional funding, it doesn’t meet our increasing costs to just ‘stand still’ and keep providing exactly the same services in the same way.
“To get the maximum extra funding, the government also expects that we will increase council tax by the maximum amount possible – 4.99% – every year. If we decide not to, we will need to find additional savings and efficiencies to balance the books.”
A council tax increase of 4.99% has been assumed for initial budget setting purposes only, in line with government expectations. This is not confirmed. Options for council tax will be considered by the executive before consultation begins in January.
Cllr Matthews added:
“I've been surprised at how late the government have left it to give us the details of how much funding they are providing, and it is still not final until February. This has given us a really tight timeframe to determine our spending from April, which is yet another challenge in managing a complex financial picture. You wouldn't be expected to do it this way if you were managing a private business.”
The budget proposals can be seen on the council’s website. The final budget will be set at a meeting of the full council on 20 February 2026.