A Radcliffe resident says she was surprised by the increase in her parish council charge after receiving her council tax bill earlier this month.
Lynne Walder said she paid around £160 last year towards the parish council element of her bill, but this year the figure is £450.67.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said the 58-year-old. “It makes me just want to quit the UK, it really does. I came back in 2017 from New Zealand and I wish I hadn’t bothered because I just seem to be paying bills the whole time.”
Radcliffe-on-Trent Parish Council approved a 180% increase in its precept for the 2026/27 financial year in December.
Some residents said they had not fully understood the scale of the increase until bills were issued in April.
Ms Walder said rising household costs were a factor in her reaction.
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“Everything is about finding money to pay bills,” she said. “With the cost of fuel going up, council tax bills, the cost of gas and electricity, it’s just not enjoyable living in the UK anymore.
“It’s really making me look to live overseas again. I’m ready to quit. I don’t see what I’m paying for. I don’t mind paying for things if I’m thinking I’m getting value for money, and I’m absolutely not. It’s just dead money.”
A resident of a three-bedroom property said the increase would have a direct financial impact.
“Reluctantly, we’ve got to pay. I’ve got no choice,” they said. “It has an impact. It’s the price of a holiday on the coast for my daughters. I’ve got to find that money somewhere else now.
“Yes, it’s a fairly affluent area, but we’re not all loaded with money. We’ve all got massive bills.”
The parish council said the increase followed a review of its finances, which found previous precept levels had not kept pace with inflation and that a full asset register had not previously been in place.
It said the revised figures reflect the level of funding needed to maintain and replace assets in future years.
Another resident said they had expected a smaller increase.
“If it was going up £20 to £60 I wasn’t going to be too bothered,” they said. “I thought it was going to be a trivial thing.
“Then I saw it and realised this is not trivial at all.”
Parish council precepts form only part of a household’s overall council tax bill, which also includes charges set by the police and crime commissioner, the fire service, Rushcliffe Borough Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
Unlike larger authorities, parish and town councils are not subject to referendum limits on annual council tax increases.
Parish council chair Anne McLeod previously said the authority had reviewed its budget in detail before agreeing the rise.
“The figure we started with was considerably more and we’ve whittled it down and checked and re-checked just about everything to see if we can reduce it here and reduce it there,” she said.
“We’ve been at it since September and we’ve done everything we can to make it as low as possible. If we don’t do it, we probably won’t get through the coming year. We won’t have enough money to pay salaries and pay the bills without dipping into reserves more than we’re allowed to.”
Councillors voted 13 to one in favour of the increase.
