Guide to Council Tax 2023/24

Your Council Tax is collected by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, but the money you pay goes towards the funding of a number of other public service providers in your area. The breakdown of how much of your Council Tax goes to each service provider is shown on your bill.

The full bill for a band D property in an area without a parish or town council would be £1,928.56

Local authority referendums and increases shown on Council Tax bills

For 2023/24 any increases in the Council Tax by this council or a major preceptor (County Council, Fire and Police) that are equal to or more than the relevant referendum threshold set by the Government, will trigger a local referendum.

Please note that for billing purposes only the percentage increase shown on the bill is rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.99% will be shown as 3.0%.

How much is our share of the Council Tax?

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's share of the Council Tax pays for a range of services, including bin collection, recycling, planning and building control, community safety, housing services, street cleansing, grass cutting, environmental health, licensing, car parking, leisure, sport, culture and the arts.

Households in the borough living in an area without a parish or town council will pay £136.42 Council Tax at band D for services provided by the borough council - that is 37p per day.

Those living in rural areas may pay an additional sum to cover the services provided by their town or parish council. If this applies to you, details of the amount your parish council required to be raised through Council Tax will be shown on your bill.

Balanced budget measures mean a Council Tax freeze for 2023/24

The borough council collects Council Tax from residents, but the vast majority of this money goes to other public service providers, Hampshire County Council, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, as well as parish and town councils.

Over the past 5 years, this council has suffered a 18.3% reduction in the level of central government funding. This funding will be £0.66M lower in 2022/23 compared to 2017/18. There also remains continued pressure on the council’s expenditure due to inflationary cost increases, increased demand for services and the impact of partner organisations responses to their own challenges.

However, the council maintains its vow to protect vital frontline services, to create a place where people can live happily, a borough where the environment can flourish, and provide good quality services to residents.

To help achieve this, the council have a balanced package of measures, which includes freezing its part of the Council Tax.

The measures also include continuing efficiency savings. The council has a balanced budget for 2023/24 and 2024/25 with a target of finding another £3.15M of annual savings and additional income by 2026/27, building on savings of more than £17.5M since 2009.

The council continues to invest in major projects, to lay strong foundations for the long-term future of the borough. The capital programme for 2023/24 is estimated at £47.43M.

This includes £18.76M on Manydown as part of the scheme to bring up to 3,520 houses in the north of the borough, £4.88M on council owned operational buildings including the Aquadrome, The Anvil and Haymarket for updated and improved facilities and £0.86M for the Local and Community Infrastructure and Prosperity Fund grant schemes. In addition, the council has a property investment strategy, with a spend of £30.00M over three years (£10.78M in 2023/24) which will ensure that council property investments continue to meet the needs of the business and commercial sector and provide the optimal return on investment to support the delivery of core borough services.

All of these measures will mean that the council is able to continue to invest in the community, to support those most in need and to spend one of the highest amounts per head on services of all districts, despite having the lowest Council Tax level in Hampshire.

Budget changes

There are reasons other than inflation why our budget and therefore the amount required from Council Tax has changed.

The table below shows the major changes to income and expenditure between 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Spending on our services

For 2023/24 our Council Tax requirement is £9,418,068. This is broken down as shown below:

Where do we get the money from to fund the services?

The services we provide for the borough are not just paid for by the Council Tax. The total funding is shown below:

What this means for a band D council tax payer

Most of the information given in this guide refers to Council Tax in a band D property in an area without a parish or town council. The total charge for the borough council for a band D Council Tax payer is shown below:

To find out your Council Tax charge for this year and for previous years visit our webpage

Capital spending

As well as day-to-day costs, the council also spends money on assets with a lasting value (for example, new buildings, major maintenance work and vehicles). This is known as capital spending.

The table below shows planned expenditure on major schemes included in the council’s capital programme for 2023/24. This investment will create new facilities or improve, or look after, existing ones for the people of the borough.

Want to know more?

If you want to find out more about the council's plans and finances, all are available on our website, by selecting the links below:

• The Medium Term Financial Strategy giving a breakdown of the council's budget
  
• The Council Plan outlining our future priorities and plans.
• The Statement of Accounts detailing our past financial performance.

You can request copies by contacting us.