Issue - meetings

Cabinet received a report which formed part of the preparation for setting the council’s budget. It needed to be considered so that figures for the tax base, the Collection Fund and the amount of business rates to be collected could be used in setting the Council Tax and business rate income and could be notified to other affected authorities.

Councillor Seaton introduced the report and highlighted the main issues contained within. The Council’s Executive Director Resources added further points of clarification around the issue.

Following a brief debate it was agreed by Cabinet that a letter be written to Government with regards to addressing outstanding business rates appeals. 

Cabinet considered the report and RESOLVED:

1.    To propose the calculation of the Council Tax Base for 2015/16 set at a level of 52,748.5 Band D equivalent properties based on a council tax support scheme of 40%, delegating authority of final confirmation of the Band D equivalent properties to Executive Director Resources following approval of the council tax support scheme by Council on 28 January;

2.    To note the estimated position on the Collection Fund in respect of Council Tax as at 31 March 2015 being:

Council Tax £0

3.    To note the estimated position on the Collection Fund in respect of Business Rates as at 31 March 2015 being a deficit position from increasing the appeals provision for the power station:

Business Rates £3.106m deficit

4. To delegate to the Executive Director Resources authority for approving and returning the final NNDR1 return to the Secretary of State by 31 January 2015 to include any further revision to the business rates position 2014/15 and Business Rate income 2015/16.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION

The Council Tax Base could be set at a higher or lower level. However, this could have the effect or either inflating unnecessarily the amount of Council Tax to be set or setting the tax at a level insufficient to meet the Council’s budget requirements. A similar position could arise if the surplus or deficit were set at a higher or lower level.

The calculation and return of the information included in the NNDR1 was a statutory requirement which could be formally delegated to an officer. As with council tax if the amount of business rates estimated to be collected was increased or reduced or the surplus or deficit was set at a higher or lower level then the amount of income available to the council would change with the consequent effect on service provision or council tax levels.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

The report to Cabinet covered calculations that were all prescribed by regulations with the effect that no other options needed to be considered. Furthermore, alternative tax base calculations had been prepared dependent on the option Council approved on the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2015/16.