Issue - meetings

(a)       That the 2019-20 Council Tax be set as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report;

(b)       That the continuation of the policy of not providing a discount in the level of Council Tax charges for second homes and long-term empty homes be endorsed.  Also where exceptions do not apply, to charge the Council Tax Premium rate of 50% above the standard rate of Council Tax for second homes and long-term empty dwellings; and

(c)       That approval be given for designated officers to issue legal proceedings and appear on behalf of the Council in the Magistrates’ Court for unpaid taxes.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer introduced the report to formally set the Council Tax charges and associated statutory resolutions for 2019/20 as part of the wider budget strategy on the basis of the decision taken by the Council on 19 February.

The Revenues Manager spoke about the three separate precepts which made up the overall level of Council Tax charges against each property.  He advised that the proposed increase in Flintshire’s precept was 8.75% (resulting in a charge of £1,280.68 for a Band D property; an annual increase of £103.08).  A 7.74% increase was reported on the precept for the Police & Crime Commissioner for North Wales, and the individual precept requirements for the 34 Town and Community Councils across Flintshire (total increase 2.13%) were appended to the report.  The overall amount raised by Council Tax consisted of the County Council’s total precept of £82,369.496, the North Wales Police & Crime Commissioner’s total precept of £17,886,558 and collective precept of £2,929,690 across Town and Community Councils.

In accordance with other procedural matters, Members were asked to endorse the continuation of the Council Tax Premium scheme and the practice for designated officers to lead on legal proceedings on behalf of the Council.

The Chief Executive explained that the resolution was to formally set the Council Tax following closure of the budget process for 2019/20 at the previous meeting.  The prescribed figures would be set out in Council Tax bills along with payment instalment options.  Due to the statutory limitations on information contained on Council Tax bills, this year they would be accompanied by a budget infographic explaining how the total amount was made up.

In moving the recommendations, Councillor Aaron Shotton referred to the lengthy budget debate which had resulted in a difficult decision, recognising the need to protect services and consider the future impact of austerity.  He welcomed the infographic of factual information produced by officers and encouraged Members to share this to help understanding of the situation.

This was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge.

Councillor Mike Peers said that the proposed increase in Council Tax was not supported by all Members and that the amount spent to recover outstanding debt could have been better used towards the shortfall in funding.  On the report’s third recommendation, he spoke about the level of unpaid Council Tax which had been reported to Overview & Scrutiny and asked about actions to improve collection rates.

The Chief Executive clarified that debt was capital borrowing debt only and that a report on Council Tax collection would be scheduled for the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Richard Jones said that the report provided more detail on the impact of the budget decision and that every valuation band would be set at over £1,000 per year, particularly affecting those with lower incomes.  He commented that the proposed 8.75% increase for the Council’s precept was the highest set by Flintshire and amongst the highest in Wales for 2019/20.  He went on to refer to the scale of the increase over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115