Another council has opted to increase its council tax by the maximum permitted by law without holding a referendum.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has followed the example of all the others in planning to raise its share of council tax by 3% from the start of the financial year.

However, because the borough also collects the precepts for other authorities, some of which have put rates up by more than 3%, residents will actually see bills rise by 4.59% overall.

The money paid to the borough council pays for services such as waste collection, recycling, planning, parks, leisure and housing the homeless.

Its bill will rise by £6.93 a year to £238.16, for the average Band D house.

Residents will pay more or less depending on which grade property they are in.

Money paid to KCC takes up around 70% of the bills that land on residents’ doorsteps, with Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue and parish and town councils also demanding a share.

The combined bill for an average Band D household in Tonbridge and Malling from April will be made up as follows: Kent County Council £1,610.82 (up by 4.99%); TMBC £238.16 9 (up 3%), Kent Police £256.15 (up 5.35%), Kent Fire and Rescue £89.91 (up 2.99%) and the average for parish and town councils £71.11 (up by 0.44%).

The total bill for a Band D property will be £2,266.15.

Cllr Kim Tanner (Con) is the cabinet member responsible for finance. She said: “We’ve worked hard over the last year to innovate, be more efficient and absorb rising costs so we can keep the increase in council tax to a minimum.

“The widely reported problems facing many local authorities have highlighted the importance of strong financial governance and prudent decision-making.

“Unlike many of our counterparts up and down the country, we are debt free and in a good position to invest in both core services and schemes to deliver improvements for our residents.”

In previous years, researchers at money.co.uk have assessed Tonbridge and Malling council as giving residents the best value-for-money in their council tax of any authority in Kent.