The Council is asked to formally set the Council Tax for 2017/18.

(A report will be circulated at the meeting)  

(NB: Please remember that, in line with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, decisions on the budget MUST be a recorded vote).

103.1         Having agreed the Council’s 2017/18 budget earlier in the meeting, attention was drawn to a report, circulated around the table, which asked Members to approve and set a Council Tax requirement for 2017/18.

103.2         In proposing the recommended Council Tax level, a Member indicated that, as could be seen from the budget, the Council had needed to find £800,000 and, even by raising a Band D Council Tax by £5.00 per year, only £162,000 additional funding would be found through Council Tax increases. This had not been an easy decision to make but he felt it was the only thing the Council could do in the current circumstances and was something that nearly every authority in the country was having to do.

103.3         In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, voting was recorded as follows:

103.4            Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          1. Thatit be NOTED that, on 21 February 2017, the Council                                        calculated:

a.    the Council Tax base 2017/18 for the whole Council area as £32,512.32 (Item T in the formula section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)); and

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

                                                2.  That the Council Tax requirement calculated for the                                                             Council’s own purposes for 2017/18 (excluding Parish                                                         precepts) is £3,555,547.

                                                3. That the following amounts be calculated for the year                                                           2017/18 in accordance with Sections 30 to 36 of the Act:

a.    £37,853,992 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 the Parish Councils;

b.    £32,490,743 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31(A)(3) of the Act;

c.    £5,363,249 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 and its Council Tax requirement for the year (Item R in formula in Section 31B of the Act);

d.    £164.96 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.    £1,807,702 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.     £109.36 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 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 2017/18,                                                                        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 Schedule 3 to                                                   the report, as the amounts of Council Tax for the year                                                         2017/18 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 2017/18 is not excessive in accordance                                                  with principles approved under Section 52ZB of the 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                                                    2017/18 is excessive and that the billing authority is not                                                               required to hold a referendum in accordance with Section                                             52ZK of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.