Our Council

What is Council Tax?

mother and child

Council Tax is the current form of local taxation for domestic properties which local authorities use to raise money to pay for around 20% of the cost of local services such as Education, Social Services, Refuse Collection and so on.

Council Tax is a property tax with a personal element. The property element is based on the property's valuation band. The personal element takes into account the number of people aged over18 living in a property, and allows for a discount to be granted in some circumstances.

Paying your Council Tax

Property Band Charges

Council Tax banding costs 2009/2010 (PDF)
Council Tax banding costs 2008/2009 (PDF)
Council Tax banding costs 2007/2008 (PDF)
Council Tax banding costs 2006/2007 (PDF)

What's your council tax banding? (Online calculator)

Find out how the council spends your Council Tax (PDF)

National Fraud Initiative 2008

The Council is participating in a National Fraud Initiative which is a data matching exercise run by the Audit Commission to identify fraudulent and erroneous payments from the public purse.
The Council will provide Council Tax Single Person Discount and Electoral Register data to the Audit Commission for cross-system comparison for the prevention and detection of fraud.
The authority is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers. It may share information provided to it, with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud.