Changes in housing figures across
Richmondshire have brought unexpected rises – and falls - to
council tax bills.
And this can lead to confusion when a Parish
or Town Council does not increase its precept but bills rise.
Bills will only remain unchanged when the
council tax base remains the same and this year that is not the
case in many of the parishes.
Legislation requires local Town and Parish
Councils to calculate how much they wish to spend on their
services. They ask the billing authority - Richmondshire
District Council - to collect this amount, or precept, by levying a
council tax charge on its residents.
That charge is calculated by dividing the
precept by the local council tax base – or number of homes -
applicable to the area.
The tax base is calculated annually and is
based on the number of properties in the parishes with adjustments
for homes that qualify for discounts, exemptions, empty homes,
banding changes and disability relief.
Richmondshire District has 100 parishes, of
which 24 of them precepted the same amount. But of these 24, only
one parish council’s tax base remained the same from 2010/11 to
2011/12 - so its average Band D council tax rate stayed the
same.
The remaining 23 parishes saw a change - 11
increased and 12 went down. The increases ranged from 4p – or
0.19% - at Redmire to £3.89 – or 4.27% - at Carlton Town.
The drop ranged from 3p at Gilling West –
0.13% - to £1.50 at Eppleby – 4.23%. In Richmond the precept levied
by Town Councillors was the same as 2010/11 but due to a
change in the tax base from 3,225.27 in 2010/11 to 3,210.31 in
2011/12, it has seen a rise for an average Band D property from
£47.09 to £47.32 – 0.5%
Print page