To agree the Council Tax for 2024/25.  

96.1          Having agreed the Council’s 2024/25 budget earlier in the meeting, attention was drawn to the report, circulated separately, which asked Members to approve and set a Council Tax requirement for 2024/25. 

96.2          In proposing the Council Tax report, the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management explained that, as the billing authority, the Council must formally approve the Council Tax charge to its residents for the forthcoming year including the levels set by the County Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire as well as Town and Parish Councils.  In line with the 2024/25 budget approved earlier in the meeting, the average Band D Council Tax within the borough would be £2,126.05 per annum which was an increase of £97.13 or 4.79%. This position was a combination of the following increases in Council Tax: the County Council – 4.99% or £76.04; the Police and Crime Commissioner – 4.41% or £13.00; the average Town and Parish Council – 4.47% or £3.16; and Tewkesbury Borough Council – 3.59% or £5.00.  As a result of these increases, it should be noted that with the government still not enabling the Council to be able to appropriately increase its premium, Tewkesbury Borough Council’s share of the overall Council Tax bill fell from 6.86% to 6.79%.  This position was summarised in the table at Paragraph 3.1 of the report with further detail provided in its appendices.  The full Council Tax resolution, as required by the legislation, was contained within Appendix A to the report and he asked the Council to formally approve it in order for Officers to issue bills to residents in a timely manner.

96.3          The recommendation was seconded and, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, voting was recorded as follows:

96.4          Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED           1. That it be NOTED that, on 1 December 2023, the Council calculated:

a)  the Council Tax Base 2024/25 for the whole Council            area as £37,632.47 (Item T in the formula in section       31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the "Act")); and,

b)  for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a Parish precept relates as in the attached Appendix C.

2. That the Council Tax requirement calculated for the Council's own purposes for 2024/25 (excluding Parish precepts) is £5,432,623.

3. That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2024/25 in accordance with Sections 30 to 36 of the Act:

a)     £62,168,273 being the aggregate of the amounts which        the Council estimates for the items set out in Section      31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued     to it by Parish Councils;

b)     -£53,956,167 being the aggregate of the amounts      which the Council estimates for the items set out in     Section 31A(3) of the Act;

c)     £8,212,105 being the amount by which the aggregate at           3.a) above exceeds the aggregate at 3.b) above,    calculated by the Council in accordance with Section            31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the       year (Item R in the formula in Section 31B of the Act);

d)     £218.22 being the amount at 3.c) above (Item R), all          divided by Item T (1(a) above), calculated by the     Council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year     (including Parish precepts);

e)     £2,779,482 being the aggregate amount of all special         items (Parish precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of      the Act (as per Appendix C to the report);

f)      £144.36 being the amount at 3.d) above less the result           given by dividing the amount at 3.e) above by Item T (1 (a) above), calculated by the Council, in accordance       with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its       Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of      its area to which no Parish precept relates;

g)     the amounts stated in column 5 (Band D Parish/Town            and Borough b) of Appendix B to the report are given            by adding to the amount at 3.f) above the amounts of          special items relating to dwellings in those parts of the   Council's area specified in column 1 of Appendix B in         accordance with Section 34 (3) of the Act. For         completeness the table shows all areas; and

h)     the amount set out in Appendix B to the report given by      multiplying the amounts at 3.g) above by the number which, in proportion set out in Section 5 (1) of the Act, is      applicable to dwellings listed in a particular valuation band divided by the number which in that proportion is applicable to dwellings listed in valuation band D, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section            36 (1) of the Act, as the amounts to be taken into     account for the year in respect of categories of      dwellings listed in different valuation bands.

 4. That it be NOTED that, for the year 2024/25, Gloucestershire County Council and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire have stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the Borough Council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

5. That, having calculated the aggregate in each case of the amounts at 3.h) and 4. above, the Council, in accordance with Sections 30 and 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, hereby sets the amounts set out in Appendix B to the report as the amounts of Council Tax for the year 2024/25 for each of the categories of dwellings shown in Schedule 3.

6. The Council has determined that its relevant basic amount of Council Tax for 2024/25 is not excessive in accordance with principles approved under Section 52ZB Local Government Finance Act 1992. As the billing authority, the Council has not been notified by a major precepting authority that its relevant basic amount of Council Tax for 2024/25 is excessive and that the billing authority is not required to hold a referendum in accordance with Section 52ZK Local Government Finance Act 1992.