New council tax bill revealed (From Witney Gazette)

New council tax bill revealed

2:16pm Tuesday 28th February 2006 in Witney By Maddy Biddulph

PEOPLE in Witney can expect to receive a council tax bill of £1,293.76 a year for an average band D property from April 1.

The final figure for West Oxfordshire's portion of the levy will be announced as three per cent today the second lowest rate for a district council in the UK.

West Oxfordshire District Council had been advised to raise the rate by 4.5 per cent, but instead used a £85,000 windfall from recovered council tax debts to keep charges down.

It has increased its portion of the levy by £2, from £66 to £68 per annum for a band D property in Witney.

The remaining bulk of the bill comes from Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council, which voted to raise its part of the tax by 4.375 per cent one of the lowest increases in the south east.

The council is also planning to use £1.165m to keep its council tax demand down without cutting services.

"Our increase is still less than half the national average that district councils charge."

Council leader Barry Norton

The decision will be finalised at a full council meeting today.

Council leader, Barry Norton, told the Witney Gazette that the small increase was a bid to reduce the pressure on people on low or fixed incomes, particularly pensioners.

He said: "We saw the £85,000 as a chance to cut tax by 1.5 per cent by sharing the windfall of back money we have got in from bad debts.

"It is a goodwill gesture to show we are trying to put it down because we understand the problems of large tax increases."

Mr Norton added that the council had the second lowest rate for a district in the UK, with Breckland District Council, in Norfolk, charging just £59.14 for a band D property.

He said: "Our increase is still less than half the national average that district councils charge."

Mary Neale, cabinet member for finance, said: "We felt that this money had come from taxpayers in the first place, and so they should share in the benefit of the windfall."

In 2004, the council was forced to make a U-turn on a proposed 33 per cent council tax increase, which would have been one of the highest in England.

Councillors eventually agreed to cut the rise to five per cent, after being threatened with capping by the Government despite having one of the lowest taxes in the country.

The council had planned to increase its part of the Oxfordshire levy from £60 to £80 for band D properties in 2004/2005.

After a meeting with former Local Government Minister, Nick Raynsford, cabinet members were forced to scrap the idea, and dip into reserves to keep charges low.

West Oxfordshire was one of about 30 councils threatened with capping. Where will your money go: * A family in a band D property in Witney will pay £1,293.76 from April this year * Of that, Oxfordshire County Council, which runs services, including schools, roads, and social services, will take £1,008.75 * Thames Valley Police will get £132.58 from each household * Witney Town Council, which looks after things like public halls, parks, and cemeteries, will take £84.43 from the bill * West Oxfordshire District Council, which collects rubbish, controls planning, and runs environmental services, among other things, will get £68.