Referendum bid to increase council tax to pay for pothole repairs is defeated

A bid to trigger a referendum to raise £29million more in council tax to fix Devon’s pothole-riddled roads has failed as the county’s biggest council confirmed its budget.

A motion put to the full council yesterday (Tuesday, February 24) proposed the extra cash as part of aspirations to bolster pothole repairs, road defects, drainage maintenance and other highway schemes.

But the request – put forward by Councillor Paul Hayward – would have meant residents being asked to agree to a more than 5% hike in council tax above the 4.99% maximum legal limit.

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Any council wishing to increase council tax by more must hold a referendum vote for all residents.

The call for the extra funding came even as Devon confirmed earlier this month that highways would receive an additional £15m of additional investment in 2026/27 for preventative maintenance, resurfacing and patching.

The administration said it had identified £4m in additional funding for highway drainage improvements, gully clearance, vegetation management and other preventative work.

In the end, only four councillors voted for Cllr Hayward’s proposal, with 44 against and 10 abstentions, including Green member Cllr Andy Ketchin who was named as the seconder in council papers.

Cllr Hayward said the council needed to “make sure that as an authority we get every possible penny’s worth of value” from the money it receives.

He claimed that just as 58p of vehicle fuel charges go to the Treasury, some of council taxpayers’ money went to “the private sector that is profiting from children’s and adult’s social care.”

He added that he wanted the chairs of each highways committee across Devon to collaborate with the highways cabinet member, Cllr Dan Thomas to look at highways spending.

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Council leader Cllr Julian Brazil said extra money had already been directed towards highways as part of the proposed budget.

Cllr James Buczkowski, the cabinet member for finance, spoke against asking Devon’s residents for a 10% hike in their council tax in a single year, stating he believed council tax to be “not progressive.”

“It is not equitable and it places a proportionally heavy burden on those with the least financial flexibility,” he said.

Cllr Buzkowski also noted that such a rise would not be a one-off because it would become “part of the base.”

He added: “It would permanently increase the council tax burden for every household in Devon.

“We’re talking about locking in a structurally higher council tax indefinitely.”

He said the expected cost of a referendum would be £2.5m, adding: “I don’t think there has been a successful council tax referendum.”