Where your council tax goes

Council tax rates per charging authority, 2011-12

Band	County Council	Fire	Police	Borough plus Parish Council Average*	Total
A	£795.45	£46.46	£106.74	£116.61	£1,065.26
B	£928.03	£54.20	£124.53	£136.04	£1,242.80
C	£1,060.60	£61.95	£142.32	£155.48	£1,420.35
D	£1,193.18	£69.69	£160.11	£174.91	£1,597.89
E	£1,458.33	£85.18	£195.69	£213.78	£1,952.98
F	£1,723.48	£100.66	£231.27	£252.65	£2,308.06
G	£1,988.63	£116.15	£268.85	£291.52	£2,665.15
H	£2,386.36	£139.38	£320.22	£349.82	£3,195.78

*The parish figure is an average - each Parish Council sets its own charge.

Specific charges for each Parish can be found in the council tax bands section. More information about charges can be found in the council tax leaflet 2011/12.

Why is the Rushcliffe Borough Council charge frozen at the same level as 2010/11?

Every council this year has frozen its council tax with a few councils actually reducing it. This has been done at the request of the Government due to the harsh financial climate. The Government has put £650m in subsidies in place to encourage councils to freeze their taxes. It means every council will get an additional grant equivalent to about 2.5% increase in council taxes.

Rushcliffe is facing very tough times over the next few years with about a quarter being cut from its budgets. Also there are low interest rates, loss of investment income and our income is generally down too. Overall, we’ve got to make savings of £2.8m over the next four years. We’ve found considerable savings already which means frontline Council services won’t be affected. This was achieved by reviewing what we do and how we do it. The council now has a comprehensive four year plan and will be looking at cutting costs, maximizing income and seeing how else services can be provided.

What do I get for my money? Are Rushcliffe’s services good value?

Rushcliffe's part of your council tax bill for a band D property is £113.22 – the same as last year. This is only 31 pence per day. We still have one of the lowest council tax levels in the country and we continue to improve services.

The main thing you need to know is we’re continuing to provide high quality services and are looking at all services in great detail to see what we can do differently. Rushcliffe is not now subject to scrutiny by the Audit Commission, but they have told us we give good value for money based on the work they have undertaken over the last year. We keep residents up to date on our plans for efficiency and effectiveness though news releases and our newsletter Rushcliffe Reports.

Why is my bill so much bigger than £100 a year? What else am I paying for and why?

The Borough Council's share of your bill is about 7% of the total council tax bill. You also pay for services provided by Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottinghamshire Fire Authority, Nottinghamshire Police and your local parish council (except for West Bridgford where there is no parish council and we levy a special expense). These other organisations set their own rates, so we can’t comment on their rates.

To find out more about these services please refer to the leaflets enclosed with your council tax bill for more information.