COUNCIL tax bills may still be landing on doormats but Barnsley Council has already calculated the likely rise householders will face next year.
The council’s financial team anticipates an increase of 3.5 per cent when bills for the 2019/20 financial year, compared to this year’s 4.5 per cent increase.
This year’s increase is so high because on top of the government’s cap of a three per cent rise, it has allowed councils to take another 1.5 per cent to be used specifically for adult social care.
Neil Copley, the council’s service director for finance, has told councillors: “We have significant increases in council tax and less so for business rates.
“It is mainly council tax. It assumes we will collect what we always have collected.”
The council’s track record on collecting council tax is strong, but the authority has also changed the way it collects its debts.
“We have seen an increase in the collection rates in the last couple of years,” said Mr Copley.
“People in Barnsley are very good at paying bills, it is a cultural thing.”
Although next year’s financial outlook appears to be quite stable, council number crunchers have already started work to try to guard against a double-whammy of uncertainty which will be caused by the effects of Brexit, expected to be felt from 2020 and the impact of devolution.
Mr Copley said: “I am quite concerned about the risk post 2020 on the back of things like Brexit.
“We cannot say what the impact on regional finances will be, it is a big unknown. With devolution, some opportunities will disappear but others will arise.”
