24 February 2014

 

Final Council Tax Bill for Rochford residents agreed for 2014/15

 

Residents in the Rochford District will have an average 0.47 per cent increase in their Council Tax for the financial year 2014/2015.

Last week, Rochford District Council agreed a 1.89 per cent increase for their portion of the Council Tax for 2014/2015.

 

This will take the amount of Council Tax paid to the District Council for an average band D property to £208.98 from £205.11 last year (which equates to £3.87 per year or 7½p a week).

 

The parish and town councils average council tax is £39.78, an increase of 1.6% compared to 2013/14.

 

The Police & Crime Commissioner for Essex has now agreed his precept at 1.97 per cent, which now makes it possible to calculate the total Council Tax bill for residents.

 

This means that the total average Council Tax bill for an average band D property in the Rochford District will be 1,546.20 per annum – an overall average increase of  £7.29 per year (0.47 per cent).

 

Of the total Council Tax bill only 14 per cent comes to Rochford District Council with the rest going to Essex County Council (70 per cent), Essex Fire and Rescue (4 per cent), the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex (9 per cent) and the Parish and Town Councils (3 per cent).

 

Rochford District Council is committed to giving residents the best value for money and needs to reduce spending by £0.9m this year. This follows on from the £0.5m of efficiencies the Council was asked to find last year and £0.9m of efficiencies the year before.

The District Council remains committed to delivering essential services with quality and efficiency in the coming year, and building on achievements which include:

· Reclaiming the title of being the best authority in England when in comes to recycling with a rate of 66.7%;

· The Council’s Legal team and the Environment Agency won the Prosecution Team of the Year award for its joint work in taking prosecution action against serious planning and environmental breaches.

· The Rochford Art Trail scooped two regional Towns Alive awards; it won the ‘Culture and Environment’ category for the East zone and overall winner in the East;

· Shop at my Local celebrated another milestone as the 1000th shopper signed up and pledged to shop locally in the Rochford District;

· The new Grounds Maintenance contract which covers maintenance of open spaces and the cutting of grass verges, started in December. Plus the booking of football pitches, maintaining the cemeteries and the inspection and maintenance of play spaces are now delivered directly by the Council.

· The Council is on target to deliver the reductions in expenditure in 2013/14 of £423,000, primarily through savings on the grounds maintenance contract and the generation of an additional £180,000 in income.

· The Rochford Economic Development team have helped the Low Carbon Business Programme reach 235 Rochford Small and Medium Enterprises and secure £265,000 of European Regional Development Fund grant funding for them  since 2009. To date, £250,000 of this has been successfully allocated to 44 different companies, enabling 31 to proceed with environmental projects and a further 13 used funding towards employing an apprentice. In addition to these 13 apprentices, a further 81 Rochford jobs have been created and 71 confirmed positions safeguarded through the intervention of the Programme.

· More than 200 businesses attended the three business breakfasts that the Council organise and host each year.

 

These are in addition to the important services the Council provide including Environmental Services, Leisure Services, Planning and Transportation and Revenues and Benefits.

 

The Leader of Rochford District Council, Councillor Terry Cutmore, said:  “We understand that many residents across the Rochford district are feeling the squeeze financially, and as such we have thought long and hard before increasing our part of the Council Tax by this small amount. Before taking this tough decision, a public consultation was carried out with residents to seek their views. The results showed 49% of respondents would be happy to see an increase in Council Tax if it avoided further reductions in services, 34% did not agree and 16% had no view or did not answer the questions. Therefore, in light of cuts from Central Government, we have made this difficult decision so that we can continue to provide the high level of service that residents have come to expect.”

 

Rochford District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, Councillor Simon Smith, said: “A lot of effort has gone into balancing the budget, and I would like to thank the Councillors from all parties and the Council officers who have worked so hard.

“It’s important to remember that, although we are the authority who collects Council Tax, we don’t receive all of it. Council Tax is split between several other bodies such as Parish and Town Councils, the Police, the County Council and the Fire and Rescue Service.

“However, we do realise how important it is to keep costs down for residents, and have therefore opted for a minimal increase, retaining our debt-free status of which we are very proud, in these tough economic times.”

 

 

The average Council Tax is made up as follows:

                                                                 13/14                 14/15

Essex County Council                                1,086.75             1,086.75  

Essex Fire Service                                        66.42                66.42  

Police & Crime Commissioner for Essex        141.48              144.27

Parish Councils                                             39.15               39.78

Rochford District Council                              205.11              208.98  

Total                                                         1,538.91            1,546.20        

 

 

Rochford District Council waives Council Tax for those made homeless by flooding.

Rochford District Council has decided to waive the Council Tax for residents whose homes have been left uninhabitable due to flooding.

 

The move applies to 34 properties in Rayleigh, Hockley, Hawkwell and Rochford which were flooded in August 2013, forcing residents to temporarily move out while their homes undergo repair work.

 

Due to impending changes to the Council Tax discount scheme from 1 April, residents of the flooded properties would have seen their discount reduced to 50%. This decision will now ensure that a 100 per cent Council Tax discount can continue for up to 12 months from when they moved out of their properties.

 

Rochford District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Council Tax Collection, Benefits and Strategic Housing Functions, Councillor Malcolm Maddocks, said: “I am glad that we can offer this Council Tax discount to take some of the pressure off those people whose homes were flooded last August. It is has clearly been a very traumatic time for those who have had to leave their homes while repair work is carried out, and I hope this will go some way to alleviating the strain.”