Blaby District Council Cabinet Executive Date of Meeting 18 February 2019 Title of Report Council Tax 2019/20 This is not a Key Decision and is on the Forward Plan Lead Member Cllr. Maggie Wright - Finance & Assets (Deputy Leader) Report Author Strategic Finance Manager 1. What is this report about? 1.1 The Council is required to set out the total amount that needs to be raised from the collection of Council Tax in the forthcoming year. This is known as the Council Tax precept (Council Tax requirement) for Blaby District Council and forms part of the funding that supports the services provided by the Council. Ultimately this report sets the amount of Council Tax charged to each household in the District. 1.2 The report also covers details of changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme and changes to discretionary Council Tax liability, approved by Cabinet Executive on 5 November 2018, but which also require formal approval by Council. 2. Recommendation(s) to Cabinet Executive and Council 2.1 The Council Tax Requirement for 2019/20 is set at £5,461,576. 2.2 The District Council Band D Council Tax is set at £163.32, reflecting an increase of £5, all other bands being determined in accordance with the relevant Sections of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended. 2.3 The precepts and level of Band D Council Tax of the Leicestershire County Council*, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), the Combined Fire Authority and the various Parish Councils within the District be determined as set out in the report of the Strategic Finance Manager, all other bands being determined in accordance with the relevant Sections of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended. * Subject to the meeting of Leicestershire County Council to be held on 20th February 2019. 2.4 The changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme and discretionary areas of Council Tax liability, which were the subject of a report to Cabinet Executive on 5 November 2018, are approved. 3. Reason for Decisions Recommended 3.1 The Council is statutorily required to determine its own Council Tax Requirement and to determine the Council Tax for the 2019/20 financial year, taking into account precepts determined by the other precepting authorities. 3.2 Changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme and discretionary Council Tax liability must be approved by Full Council. 4. Matters to consider 4.1 Background Setting the level of Council Tax charged and calculating the total amount of Council Tax to be drawn from the Collection Fund is the final stage of the budget process. Council Tax is a form of local taxation that helps to pay for the services provided to residents. The amount of funding the Council may raise in Council Tax is limited by: The number and size of properties in the district on which a charge for Council Tax can be applied (referred to as the Council Tax Base), and The maximum increase that may be applied to the current Council Tax level (without a referendum being triggered). Blaby’s Council Tax Base for 2019/20 is 33,441.71 and was set at a meeting of the Cabinet Executive on 21st January 2019. Generally, if a local authority wishes to increase the basic amount of Council Tax by 3% or more then a referendum will be triggered. This requires the local electorate to be given an opportunity to vote to support or veto the increase. However, any shire district Council may increase its Band D Council Tax by the greater of 2.99% or £5 without triggering a referendum. This situation applies to Blaby for the purposes of setting its 2019/20 Council Tax. The table below illustrates the impact of the £5 increase for each of the Council Tax bands: A B C D E F G H £3.34 £3.89 £4.44 £5.00 £6.11 £7.22 £8.33 £10.00 4.2 Proposal(s) Leicestershire County Council is not due to formally set its Council Tax requirement until 20th February 2019, but provisional figures are included in this report. The OPCC and Combined Fire Authority have already set their budget and Council Tax and so the details contained in the tables for those preceptors are final. The Council Tax Requirement for Blaby has been determined to be £5,461,576 and is calculated as follows: 2018/19 2019/20 £ £ General Fund Budget Requirement 11,256,746 11,961,878 Core Funding : National Non-Domestic Rates (2,590,645) (2,732,644) Revenue Support Grant (167,114) (2,757,759) 0 (2,732,644) New Homes Bonus Grant (2,409,779) (2,851,626) S31 Grant – NNDR Compensation (858,872) (889,209) Redistribution of Levy Account Surplus 0 (33,667) Council Tax (Surplus)/Deficit (14,756) 6,844 Council Tax Requirement 5,215,580 5,461,576 The Council Tax Requirement including all preceptors is shown in the table below. The percentage increase being due to both an increase in the Tax Base and the Council Tax charged. 2018/19 2019/20 Change £ £ Leicestershire County Council 40,936,325 43,212,743 5.56% Leicestershire, Leicestershire & Rutland Combined Fire Authority 2,131,809 2,228,556 4.54% Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire 6,563,450 7,465,200 13.74% Blaby District Council 5,215,580 5,461,576 4.72% Parish Councils (Aggregate) 3,118,138 3,410,538 9.38% Total 57,965,302 61,778,613 6.58% The Average Council Tax for each household is calculated by taking the precept requirement and dividing it by the Council Tax Base. This average is always shown as a Band D equivalent. The table below shows the resulting Band D Council Tax amount for each of the precepting authorities that comprise the Council Tax bill. The Parish element is not shown in this table, but is added on depending on the Parish in which the household is situated. Appendix A provides details of all individual Parish precepts. 2018/19 2019/20 Change £ £ Leicestershire County Council Main element * 1,163.20 1,200.35 2.99% Adult Social Care element * 79.40 91.83 1.00% Total 1,242.60 1,292.18 3.99% Leicestershire, Leicestershire & Rutland Combined Fire Authority 64.71 66.64 2.98% Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire 199.23 223.23 12.05% Blaby District Council 158.32 163.32 3.16% Total 1,664.86 1,745.37 4.84% * In accordance with Government guidance each percentage is calculated as an increase to the 2018/19 total of £1,242.60. All other bands are calculated by applying a ratio to the Band D Council Tax. The average parish Council Tax is £101.98 which, when added to the figures in the table above, gives an overall Band D average charge of £1,847.35. By way of comparison, the current year Band D average charge is £1,759.51. The relevant Council Tax for each of the bands, including the average Parish charge, is: A B C D E F G H £1,231.57 £1,436.82 £1,642.10 £1,847.35 £2,257.88 £2,668.39 £3,078.92 £3,694.70 In accordance with Section 30-36 of the Local Government and Finance Act, 1992, the Council Tax payable for each band of property has been determined taking into account the individual precept requirement for each Parish Council. This information is set out in Appendix B. 4.3 Relevant Consultations Major preceptors and all Parishes have been consulted to obtain their precept requirements for 2019/20. As part of the annual budget and Council Tax survey, residents have also been asked for their views on increasing the Council Tax for 2019/20. At the time of publishing this report, 602 residents had responded, with 62% of them being in favour of an increase of £5 in the Band D Council Tax. A further update, once all responses have been received, will be provided verbally at the Cabinet meeting. 4.4 Council Tax Support Scheme & Discretionary Council Tax Liability The following changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme and changes to the discretionary areas of Council Tax liability were approved by Cabinet Executive on 5th November 2018. the 85% Cap for the Council Tax Support Scheme is to remain unaltered for 2019/20. the Council Tax Support Scheme is to be amended to align with the Housing Benefit Regulations and guidance. the Council Tax Support scheme is to be amended to introduce a ‘minimum income floor’ for self-employed claimants. the 10% discount offered on second homes in the district is to be removed from 2019/20. a premium of 100% of the Council Tax charge for long term empty properties is to be introduced effective from 2019/20. The reasons for these recommendations were set out in the original report but broadly the changes have been designed to make the Council Tax Support Scheme easier to operate and for claimants to understand and, in terms of the discretionary changes, to encourage owners to bring empty homes back into use. The changes do also generate a small amount of additional Council Tax to the Council and other preceptors, and have been reflected in the calculation of the Council Tax Base. 5. What will it cost and are there opportunities for savings? 5.1 The financial implications of this report are dealt with in the report General Fund Budget Proposals 2019/20 also included on this agenda.