SALISBURY City Council has approved its 2026/27 budget promising to protect services and put finances on a firmer long-term footing.

The budget, put forth by the Liberal Democrat administration at full council yesterday evening, follows several challenging financial years and comes as the council forecasts a £400,000 underspend for the current year.

The council says that underspend will allow general reserves to be rebuilt to a “responsible and sustainable level”.

Leader Cllr Sam Charleston said the budget marked a turning point.

“This is a budget that does exactly what we set out to do,” he said. “It protects services, plans for the future, and puts this council back onto stable financial footing.

“Salisbury City Council is now finally in a genuinely strong position, and this budget is the clearest evidence of that.”

Resident will see a 4.99% council tax rises increase for 2026/27 – equivalent to £19 a year for a Band D household – followed by a 3.99% rise in year two.

No increases are planned for years three to five.

Long-term provisions in the budget include £700,000 spread across years three to five for future pressures and projects, £525,000 set aside for a replacement crematorium burner and £400,000 to safeguard Poultry Cross.

Cultural and civic projects also feature with £250,000 for Salisbury Playhouse refurbishment and £50,000 to support the city’s forthcoming Salisbury 800 celebrations.

The budget includes long-overdue repairs to The Guildhall ceiling, £40,000 a year for play park repairs – with Friary play park among the first to benefit – and an increased accessibility budget of £50,000 a year.

There is £280,000 allocated for refurbishment of the Market Place toilets, a project that has cross-party backing, alongside extra investment in cyber security, CCTV upgrades and additional staff to improve service delivery.

Several amendments were agreed at full council, including a new Christmas lights switch-on event, a modernised HR system, batteries for the council’s solar panels to store energy and cut costs and a proof-of-concept trial of car-free days in the city centre.

Council leader Cllr. Sam Charleston.

Cllr Charleston added: “This is what grown-up financial planning looks like. Not hoping problems go away but dealing with them before they become crises.”

Conservative Cllr Andrew Suddards for Hanham West said the budget was inevitably shaped by Lib Dem numbers but argued his group had influenced the final outcome.

He said the Conservatives had produced an alternative budget showing the council could “retain high quality services” and include enhancements while keeping precept rises “lower than inflation”.

Cllr Suddards criticised the “inflation-busting” 4.99% rise but welcomed the administration’s willingness to accept some Conservative amendments, adding that collaboration had improved the final budget and could help raise standards of efficiency and council management in the years ahead.

Cllr Annie Riddle, fellow member for Harnham West, said: “I was very pleased by the co-operative attitude and lack of political mud-slinging at this meeting. Long may it last!”