Wheatley Hill Parish Council approved its budget for 2020-2021 in the sum of £127,507 at the meeting of the Parish Council held on 13 January 2020.
The introduction by Central Government of a Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme grant which replaced the Council Tax Benefit Scheme significantly changed the calculation of the tax-base upon which Council Tax is calculated. Town and parish councils are not financially independent and are reliant upon Central Government grant support to compensate for the loss of tax-base. The grant support is paid to Durham County Council who then redistribute the grant to parishes but the County Council is under no obligation to do this. Durham County Council as our billing authority has agreed to redistribute the relevant part of the Central Government grant for 2020-2021.
The Parish Council requires a budget of £127,507 for the 2020/2021 financial year. To off-set the budget the Parish Council will use £4,489 of reserves and receive a Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme grant of £14,766. After deducting the £4,489 reserves and the £14,766 grant from the Council’s budget this will produce a precept requirement of £108,252. The total amount requested from Durham County Council for 2020/2021 is therefore £123,018.
This budget represents a standstill Band D charge and means that as a result of increase in the council tax base residents will pay exactly the same amount as last year. By keeping a standstill Band D charge the Parish Councils precept will increase by 6.79%.