Decision details

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report informing members of the Council’s Taxbase for 2024/25 and to consider recent changes to legislation with regard to council tax on second homes and empty properties.

Members were reminded that:

• The council tax base was set each year between 1 December and 31 January and was an important calculation which set out the number of dwellings to which council tax was chargeable in an area or part of an area.

• To calculate the tax base for an area, the number of dwellings in each Council tax band was adjusted to take account of any discounts, premiums or exemptions.

• The resulting figure for each band was then multiplied by its proportion relative to Band D (from 6/9 for Band A to 18/9 for Band H) and the total across all eight bands was calculated. These were then multiplied by the authority’s estimated collection rate for the year.

• The tax base was used for the purposes of calculating the band d council tax for the billing authority and also major precepting authorities and parish councils.

The Budget Working Group had recommended that the Council did not bring in the new powers regarding council tax on second homes or other premiums at this time.

The tax base had increased steadily over the years. The Council Tax Base for 2025/26 was 25,649, which was a 1.3% increase on that for 2024/25.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.    Note the Council Tax Base for 2025/26 is 25,649.

2.    Agree with the Budget Working Group’s recommendation not to change the current exemptions and premiums as allowed under recent changes to legislation but to keep the new powers under review.

Councillor K Barnsley left the room in respect of the next agenda item.