LETTER: More than 98% of tax collected

In response to the article entitled ‘Households owe £3m council tax’ (WSCT 6 August), we would like to clarify that the £3 million figure quoted in this article is money owed over a period of 12 years.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Aug 2015, 20:00 BST

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

Your lettersYour letters
Your letters

Any figures supplied are a snapshot of arrears outstanding at any given moment in time. The figures quoted in the article are for past years and the amounts will always vary depending on what has been collected and at what stage the council is with enforcement, if appropriate, at any particular time.

It should also be noted that this figure represents money collected by West Sussex County Council, the police and parish councils as well as Horsham District Council and the proportion of outstanding debt to be collected by Horsham District Council is quite minimal.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Historically, the final debt for any given year after appropriate enforcement action and arrangements to pay off outstanding amounts has been less than £20k per annum.

I would reiterate that whilst we actively pursue unpaid council tax, we do take into account any financial difficulties people may be experiencing and we work with people to agree payment arrangements that are realistic to both parties.

The good news is that as at July 2015, for the financial year 2014/15, outstanding arrears have been reduced by some £300k and, as stated in the article, over 98 per cent of this year’s council tax payments have been collected, which is higher than the national average.

In percentage terms, between 2014/15 and 2009/10, the amount of council tax successfully collected is between 98.8 per cent and 99.8 per cent.

BRIAN DONNELLY

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

(Con, Pulborough and Coldwaltham) Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, Horsham District Council, Chart Way, Horsham

__

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be among the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make our website your homepage at www.wscountytimes.co.uk

2 Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wscountytimes

3 Follow us on Twitter @wscountytimes

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

The County Times – always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.

Related topics:West Sussex County CouncilHorsham District CouncilFacebookTwitter