Issue - meetings

Cabinet received a report on the Council Tax Base Setting 2021/22.

RESOLVED: That Buckinghamshire Council’s tax base for the year 2021/22 is 222,433.04 and that the collection rate for the year 2020/21 is 98.1%.

Cabinet received a report on the Council Tax Base Setting 2021/22.

The Head of Finance reported that there was a requirement to set the Council Tax Base which was the number of Band D properties which informs the number of receipts the Council and other major precepters would receive such as police and fire. The numbers were based on the collection rate and the numbers involved in council tax support. The guidance informed that the rate should be based on the current year which was a collection rate of 98.1% which gave a Council tax base of 222,433.04. This was a reduction from last year of 0.7% which was due to the number of people on council tax support. A council tax increase of 3.99% would still generate additional receipts of £11.3 million compared to last year and this was included in the draft budget report.

The Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services asked whether the council tax base reduction of 0.7% was an average and if the reduction varied from parish to parish. He referred to the reduction for the Chiltern area, as set out on page 45 of the agenda pack, which was 1.12%, and questioned whether this was due to the fact that the collection rate in Chiltern has historically been one of the top three collection rates in the Country. The Head of Finance reported that this was an average and that the overall collection rate applied equally to all of the parishes, but the numbers differed slightly because of those residents on council tax support.

RESOLVED: That Buckinghamshire Council’s tax base for the year 2021/22 is 222,433.04 and that the collection rate for the year 2020/21 is 98.1%.