Surrey Heath Borough Council is working hard to ensure your council tax is spent effectively. As with all similar councils in the UK, our costs have increased this year due to rising inflation, reductions in funding from partners and an increase in demand for our services.
Despite the financial challenges, we have protected services our community rely on, provided targeted support for our most vulnerable residents impacted by the cost of living crisis, invested in new facilities and improvements, and have taken steps to achieve greater efficiencies in our day-to-day operations - we have already reduced our costs by more than £2m over the past year.
SHBC collects Council Tax from almost 40,000 households within Surrey Heath on behalf of local authorities in our area. Of the total collected, 74% goes to Surrey County Council, 14% to the Police, and 1% to Parish Councils. 11% stays with us, helping to fund a huge range of services to support our local communities.
At yesterday's Full Council meeting (22 February) a 2.99% increase was agreed on the Borough Council-related element of the Council Tax – less than a third of the current rate of inflation. This equates to an increase of just over 13p per week for an average Band D property.
A household living in a Band D property pays just 66p per day to help deliver more than 100 services provided by SHBC, equivalent to less than £241 a year.
Surrey Heath Portfolio Holder for Finance, Cllr Robin Perry said: "This is a budget that protects front line services at a time when our residents and businesses need us the most.
“It's a prudent budget which makes sensible use of our significant reserves during these difficult economic times, and is supported by a Council Tax increase well below inflation.
“It will allow us to continue to provide a high level of targeted support to the most vulnerable in our communities through established and effective schemes, while delivering on our ambitious plans for the future."
Anyone struggling to pay their Council Tax should contact SHBC to discuss the ways in which we can help.
Please visit our Council Tax webpages for more information.