Transport levy to rise for councils in new budget
BBCA £3.6m rise in the amount councils pay into a crucial West Midlands transport fund for free or discount travel passes is set to be agreed this week.
Members of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board will meet on Friday to discuss the final 2025-26 budget proposals covering the transport levy, mayor's office and members fees.
It is expected that the seven member councils will pay a total of £122.94m.
Legislation allows WMCA to raise money for transport initiatives through a levy on Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton councils.
In a report to the board, the increase "seeks to address some of the pressures within transport" caused by issues such as inflation, loss of funding and decisions not to increase it previously.
The fees that constituent and non-constituent local authority members pay into the WMCA will also be kept at the existing levels.
Other aspects of the new budget will see no extra increase in residents' council tax bills as Mayor Richard Parker confirmed there would be no additional precept.
A £40,000 increase in the mayoral office budget due to staffing costs could also be agreed, although the figure was 5% lower than previously anticipated.
If approved the councils will pay in 2025-26:
- Birmingham - £48.09m, up from £46.78m
- Coventry - £14.88m, up from £14.37m
- Dudley - £13.47m, up from £13.13m
- Sandwell - £14.33m, up from £13.91m
- Solihull - £9.02m, up from £8.8m
- Walsall - £11.91m, up from £11.56m
- Wolverhampton - £11.23m, up from £10.81m
The report said the levy was an important funding source for transport and provided resources for developing and maintaining infrastructure and supporting regional economic growth and connectivity.
"A lower level of funding would limit the amount of support the WMCA could provide to the transport network. This would likely have negative impacts for the West Midlands region," the report said.
"The proposals presented in this report present a fair funding strategy for transport to address the current funding gaps and historic underfunding and to support WMCA operations."
This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.
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