Issue - meetings

Council Tax Base and Collection Rate 2025/26 and Delegation of the Business Rate Estimate

 

 

Meeting: 13/01/2025 - Cabinet (Item 5)

5 Council Tax Base and Collection Rate 2025/26 and Delegation of the Business Rate Estimate pdf icon PDF 375 KB

Decision:

That Cabinet agrees to refer this report to Full Council and recommend approval by Full Council for the financial year 2025/26 of:

 

  1. -  The estimated numbers of properties for each Valuation Band as set out in this report.

 

  1. -   An estimated collection rate of 97.0%.

 

  1. -  The Council Tax Base of 88,304 Band “D” equivalent properties.

 

  1. -  The delegation of authority to the Executive Director for Finance &   Corporate Services to determine the business rates tax base for 2025/26.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Rowan Ree introduced the report noting an increase of 2,191 households on the previous year and setting an estimated Council Tax collection rate of 97%.

 

Councillor Adronie Alford stated that the Council was changing the collection from two years to one year on empty properties. She knew a family going through a lengthy probate process that would be affected by this change. She asked whether people on such circumstances would be automatically penalised if they had not managed to get probate within one year and therefore not able to avoid having an empty property.

 

Councillor Ree replied that he was aware that the probate process could be lengthy and asked Councillor Alford to write to him with the details of the family concerned so he could pass them to the relevant officer. He added that there would be flexibility in such tragic circumstances.

 

The Leader stated that the scheme was not to penalise any resident in difficult personal circumstances but to target properties left empty by investors and a measure to try to reduce them. Those properties should be offered to people trying to get into the property ladder in the brought. However, if there were any genuine human stories then the Council would make sure that there were no injustices committed.

 

 

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

 

That Cabinet agrees to refer this report to Full Council and recommend approval by Full Council for the financial year 2025/26 of:

 

  1. -  The estimated numbers of properties for each Valuation Band as set out in this report.

 

  1. -   An estimated collection rate of 97.0%.

 

  1. -  The Council Tax Base of 88,304 Band “D” equivalent properties.

 

  1. -  The delegation of authority to the Executive Director for Finance &   Corporate Services to determine the business rates tax base for 2025/26.