The riverside town in London's Oyster area which has Hertfordshire's highest council tax bill

Every single band D council tax bill in Hertfordshire is more than £2,000 for the first time. Taxpayers who live in the benchmark average-value property will put up to £2,341.60 towards council services in 2024/25, as local authorities balance their books.

Councils split the money between county, district, town and parish authorities, and the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), who sets Hertfordshire Constabulary's budget and priorities.

Broxbourne households have received the county's lowest bills. Taxpayers in band D properties across Cheshunt, Hoddesdon and Waltham Cross will pay £2,094.99 in 2024/25 - up from £1,996.87 last year.

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Less than two miles to the north, Ware households face the highest bills - £2,341.60 for the "average" property. Flanking the River Lea, the town lies in London's Oyster and contactless card zone, around 45 minutes from The City by train. Its Great Bed, now on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum, caught the attention of 16th and 17th-century playwrights William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.

Hertfordshire County Council's share of the total bill in Ware is around 72 per cent (£1,685.75). The authority is responsible for county-wide services, including rubbish tips, the fire and rescue service, most local roads including the A10 dual carriageway, education, social care, youth centres and libraries.

East Herts Council collects the money, but will only keep around eight per cent for itself (£195.22) to spend on services such as bin collections, social housing, district masterplanning, and alcohol licensing. Ware Town Council will take £209.63 in 2024/25 - roughly nine per cent - to spend on the town, including its allotments, cemetery, playgrounds and the heated outdoor pool at Ware Priory Lido.

The PCC's office will take £251. The total bill in Ware has increased by 6.9 per cent year-on-year.

"I've got a one-bedroom apartment and I'm paying more than £180 a month in council tax, which is pretty crazy," said George, aged 31. "When I first moved into the apartment, it was a lot cheaper.

"Ware's a lovely area, though. You pay for what you get I suppose, but nobody really wants to pay tax, do they?"

Rachel, aged 32, moved to Ware from Enfield in London. "We've been quite pleased with the service in comparison," she said.

"No complaints, so far. I feel like they look after the little things. We've got lots of community events. We're looking to buy our next property and we would like to stay in Ware, so [the council tax bill] hasn't put us off."

Gordon, aged 65, said: "I think all things are relative. Inflation has gone up and you don't expect anything to be cheap.

"I'd rather not pay it, but we're in a situation where we have to pay it, and I think it's an accepted tax. I think Ware is a great place to live. There are a lot of local shops and it's got better over the past 20 to 30 years that we've lived here."

Councillor Thomas Day (G, Trinity) is the leader of Ware Town Council. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We're mindful of the impact of the decisions we've made in terms of putting up the tax. We as town councillors are all residents of the town or work in the town, so we are paying the same taxes as everybody else."

Ware Town Council agreed to raise its council tax by 34 per cent in 2024 - an increase of around £53 for the year. The authority changed hands in May 2023, when the Green Party took over from the Conservatives at the local elections.

"The rationale behind it is, we've come in as a new council, lots of fresh faces, lots of people with excitement and enthusiasm for trying to do something," Cllr Day said. "Building on the successes of the previous council where myself and my colleagues were able to do some really great things about the Lido and Priory Park, we feel emboldened.

"At a time when other councils can't do things for people and are having to make cuts, I think our view is we want to do more for the community. The purpose of local government is to provide services and facilities - in a way which is fiscally responsible but we're there to do things, not to try and do as little as possible."

Cllr Day added: "Some of the money we're using is to refurbish some of the buildings and facilities we have, the idea being we can generate more of our revenue in the future from those facilities rather than having to rely on tax. About one-eighth of our entire budget is our events programme, during the school holidays, trying to engage older children in that 'harder to reach group', film screenings, and it also includes the big ticket items like Ware Festival.

"Nearly all of those events are free. We're trying to create more facilities for people to use to enjoy their time."

Hertfordshire County Council raised its share of council tax by 4.99 per cent earlier in 2024. It spends more than £1 billion each year as part of its overall budget.

Writing in the authority's guide to council tax for 2024/25, Cllr Richard Roberts (Con, Kings Langley) said: "Setting our budget for the year ahead has been hugely challenging, as we've dealt with the impact of rising prices and increased demand. We will have to use £11 million of our reserves, plan significant savings and take the very difficult decision to raise our portion of council tax by 4.99 per cent.

"We've not taken this decision lightly, but it is necessary to ensure that we can continue delivering services and responding to issues on behalf of our 1.2m residents. Our ambition for Hertfordshire to be the county of opportunity remains as strong as ever, and we will continue our work to create a cleaner, greener and healthier county."