Council Report |
|
Report of Head of Finance Author: Simon Hewings E-mail: simon.hewings@southandvale.gov.uk Wards affected: All Cabinet Member responsible: Pieter-Paul Barker Tel: 01844 212438 E-mail: Pieter-paul.barker@southoxon.gov.uk DATE: 22 February 2024 |
|
Implications (further detail within the report) |
Financial |
Legal |
Climate and Ecological |
Equality and diversity |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Signing off officer |
Simon Hewings |
Vivienne Williams |
Kim Hall |
Abi Witting |
1. The parish councils informed us of their 2024/25 precept requirements by 30 January 2024. Oxfordshire County Council set its council tax for 2024/25 on 20 February 2024 and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley (PCCTV) set his council tax requirement on 29 January 2024. This council finalised its revenue budget at its meeting of 22 February 2024. Following these decisions, the council has to calculate and set the council tax to include the County Council and the PCCTV, as well as the district and parish taxes.
2. The council tax for 2024/25 is the result of calculations in accordance with the legislation and regulations which have been issued. The recommendations above are phrased to comply with the statutory requirements which may make them difficult to comprehend. The sequence of calculations leading to the council tax is therefore set out in detail in this report.
3. A summary of the calculation of the council tax is given in paragraph 30 (table 7). The district council’s element of the band D council tax for 2024/25 will be £146.24, which is an increase of £5 from 2023/24.
4. Setting the council tax in accordance with the prescribed timetable supports the council in delivering its corporate objectives.
5. At its meeting on 14 December 2023 the council agreed the calculation of the tax base for its area and for each parish within the district. These figures are set out in column 1 of appendix 1. (recommendation (1)).
6. The tax base for the district has been calculated to be 62,683.2 which means that for each £1 increase of council tax a sum of £62,683.20 is expected to be raised. Whilst a band D property taxpayer would pay the extra £1, taxpayers in other bands would pay less (bands A to C) or more (bands E to H).
7. At its meeting on 22 February 2024 the council set its own council tax requirement at £9,166,791. (recommendation (2)).
8. In order to comply with the legislation, district council expenditure and income met from or credited to all accounts, together with parish precepts, must be added. The resulting figures for gross expenditure and gross income are shown in table 1 below.
Table 1: Gross expenditure and gross income
|
2024/25 |
£ |
|
Gross expenditure |
96,205,984 |
Gross income |
79,487,903 |
9. The council is asked to approve these calculations. (recommendations (3)(a) and (3)(b))
10. The council tax requirement of the district council is therefore £16,718,081, as detailed in table 2 below.
Table 2: District council tax requirement
|
2024/25 |
|
£ |
District council element |
9,166,791 |
Parish council element |
7,551,290 |
Council tax requirement |
16,718,081 |
11. The council is asked to approve this calculation. (recommendation (3)(c)).
12. The next step is to calculate the basic amount of council tax for the district. This is an average which includes both district and parish expenditure and is for a band D property. The calculation is shown in table 3 below.
Table 3: Calculation of basic amount of council tax
|
2024/25 |
|
£ |
Council tax requirement (inc. parishes) |
16,718,081 |
Divided by tax base |
62,383.2 |
The basic amount of council tax for 2024/25 is £266.71 (2023/24 was £249.83). This is an increase of 6.76 per cent from 2023/24. (recommendation (3)(d)).
13. Having previously resolved that all the expenses of the district council are to be treated as general expenses and therefore met by all taxpayers the only special items are parish precepts.
14. The parish precepts are set out in column 2 of appendix 1 and total £7,551,290 (2023/24 was £6,661,857). The increase of £889,433 from 2023/24 is 13.35 per cent. (recommendation (3)(e)).
15. The parish precepts total £7,551,290 and the average tax for parish purposes is £120.47 (2023/24 was £108.59). The basic amount of tax applying where the parish precept is nil is £146.24 (2023/24 was £141.24). This is the council’s council tax requirement. (recommendation (3)(f))
16. S52ZB of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 sets out the duty on authorities to determine whether their basic amount of council tax for a financial year is excessive. Guidance from Communities and Local Government is that any increase of more than higher of three per cent or £5 in the basic amount of council tax would generate the requirement under S52ZB to hold a referendum. For 2024/25 the council is proposing to increase its basic amount of council tax by £5. (recommendation 7).
17. Where there is a parish precept this is divided by the tax base for that parish and the result is added to the basic amount applying where there is no parish precept. This ensures that each parish precept is met only by taxpayers in that parish area.
18. The schedule of amounts for each parish is given in column 6 of appendix 1.
19. The basic amount for each parish is then scaled up or down to give the tax applying to each property band. The factors laid down in the legislation are shown in table 4 below.
Table 4: council tax property bands
Property band
|
Factor
|
Band A |
6/9 |
Band B |
7/9 |
Band C |
8/9 |
Band D |
9/9 |
Band E |
11/9 |
Band F |
13/9 |
Band G |
15/9 |
Band H |
18/9 |
20. Applying these factors gives the council tax covering district and parish expenditure for each property band. These are given, parish by parish, in columns 3 to 10 of appendix 2.
21. At its meeting on 20 February 2024 the County Council set its council tax as shown in table 5 below.
Table 5: Council tax for Oxfordshire County Council
Property band |
2024/25 |
|
Council Tax |
£ |
|
Band A |
£1,213.71 |
Band B |
£1,415.99 |
Band C |
£1,618.28 |
Band D |
£1,820.56 |
Band E |
£2,225.13 |
Band F |
£2,629.70 |
Band G |
£3,034.27 |
Band H |
£3,641.12 |
22. The council is asked to note these figures. The amount of money payable to the County Council by way of a precept in 2024/25 is £114,118,527 (2023/24 was £106,381,873). (recommendation (4))
23. We were notified by the PCC for Thames Valley on 29 January 2024 that his council tax will be as set out in table 6 below.
Table 6: Council tax for PCC for Thames Valley
Property band |
2024/25 |
|
Council Tax |
£ |
|
Band A |
£179.52 |
Band B |
£209.44 |
Band C |
£239.36 |
Band D |
£269.28 |
Band E |
£329.12 |
Band F |
£388.96 |
Band G |
£448.80 |
Band H |
£538.56 |
24. The council is asked to note these figures. The amount of money payable to the PCC for Thames Valley by way of a precept in 2024/25 is £16,879,332 (2023/24 was £15,722,650). (recommendation (5))
25. The county council’s council tax, together with the PCC for Thames Valley, and district and parish council tax figures, are shown in appendix 3. The amounts are the aggregate council tax payable in 2024/25 for each band of property in each parish, assuming no discounts or exemptions apply. (recommendation (6))
26. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 requires the council to set the council tax by 11 March preceding the start of the financial year. The Act sets out the calculations that must be made and this report is structured to meet those requirements.
27. These are dealt with in the body of the report.
Climate and ecological impact implications
28. There are no direct climate and ecological implications arising from this report.
29. The setting of the council tax is a legal requirement and there are no equalities implications with this process.
30. As noted under legal implications there is a legal requirement for the council to set a budget and council tax within proscribed timelines. If this is not achieved, then there is significant financial risk to the council in the short term of being unable to legally bill residents for council tax due and for wider intervention by Government.
31. n/a
32. In summary the council tax calculation is as shown in table 7 below.
Table 7: summary council tax calculation
|
2024/25 |
|
|
Amount |
Band D |
|
|
council |
tax |
||
|
£ |
£ |
Oxfordshire County Council |
114,118,527 |
1,820.56 |
PCC for Thames Valley |
16,879,332 |
269.28 |
South Oxfordshire District Council |
9,166,791 |
146.24 |
Parish councils |
7,551,290 |
120.47 |
Total council tax (average) |
147,715,940 |
2,356.55 |
33. The percentage changes in council tax are shown in table 8 below.
Table 8: Percentage increase / (decrease) in council tax 2024/25
|
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
Increase/ (decrease) |
£ |
£ |
% |
|
Oxfordshire County Council |
1,734.03 |
1,820.56 |
4.99 |
PCC for Thames Valley |
256.28 |
269.28 |
5.07 |
South Oxfordshire District Council |
141.24 |
146.24 |
3.54 |
Parish councils |
108.59 |
120.47 |
10.94 |
Overall (average) |
2,240.14 |
2,356.55 |
5.20 |
Appendices:
1. 2024/25 parish and district council tax based on band D
2. 2024/25 South Oxfordshire District Council and parish council tax
3.
2024/25 total council tax (OCC, PCCTV, SODC and parishes)
Appendix 1
Appendix 1 (Cont.)
Appendix 2
Appendix 2 (Cont.)
Appendix 3
Appendix 3 (Cont.)