Special Expenses Cheshire Association of Local Councils 30 November 2016
What are Special Expenses? Let’s take a step backwards! Firstly, we need to consider the issue of double taxation.
What is Double Taxation? • All Council Tax payers within the borough pay Council Tax to help fund services provided by Cheshire West & Chester Council • Council Tax payers who live in a parished area may also pay a precept to fund services provided by their town or parish council • Double taxation occurs when a Council Tax payer pays for the same service through both their Council Tax and their precept
Examples of services funded Examples of services funded by parish precepts by Council Tax • Waste Collection • Community Centres/Village Halls • Adult Social Care • Allotments • Libraries • Bus Shelters • Streetscene • Maintenance of Play Areas • Highways • Public Conveniences • Housing • War Memorials • Community Safety • Provision of PCSOs • Localities • Christmas Lighting The Streetscene service includes the maintenance of play areas Community Safety includes the provision of PCSOs Localities includes expenditure on Christmas Lighting Examples like this are known as concurrent functions and can lead to double taxation
Double Taxation in Practice Say “Hello” to Dave! Dave lives in Parishton. He pays his parish precept each year. This funds: • The lovely festive lights in the town each year; • Several local play areas that his kids enjoy; • A locally-based PCSO who helps to keep the town safe. He also pays his Council Tax to Boroughville Council. This funds: • Festive lights in other parts of the borough; • Play areas in other parts of the borough; • PCSOs who are available to respond to issues across the borough. “Why should I pay for these services in other areas as well as my own town?” asks Dave.
Back to our original question: What is Special Expenses? Special Expenses is a method for dealing with the issue of double taxation
How do Special Expenses work? • All concurrent functions that create double taxation are identified. • For each, the cost of provision by the principal authority is calculated. • Instead of charging this cost equally across all areas of the borough, it is charged only to the areas that receive the provision. • No additional Council Tax income is raised through the process. Instead it adjusts how the total Council Tax requirement is allocated between Council Tax payers in different areas.
Special Expenses in Practice In 2012, Cheshire West & Chester identified 3 concurrent functions which it believed were causing double taxation within the borough. These were: • Police Community Support Officers • Christmas Lighting • Play Areas Special Expense charges were implemented in each of these cases to address the double taxation issue. The scheme is being reviewed and consideration given to whether the way charges are allocated to areas for each function is still appropriate. We will now consider the charging policy currently in place for each of these concurrent functions in turn, and the options for change set out in the current consultation. NB Any Special Expenses charges quoted in the consultation document are indicative only and are subject to change.
Special Expenses in Practice – an example In 2016/17, the total amount of money the Council needed to raise from Council • Tax was approximately £152.7m. £152m of this was raised through standard Council Tax payments, meaning that • Band D Council Tax across the borough was £1,320.40 (excluding precepts). £657k of this was raised through Special Expenses charged to Council Tax payers in • areas where CW&C provides the concurrent functions. Examples: For a Frodsham resident, all identified concurrent functions were paid for through • the parish precept. Therefore, the Band D charge payable to CW&C was £1,320.40. For a Neston resident, all identified concurrent functions were paid for by CW&C • and were therefore subject to a special expense charge. This was £12.53, making the total Band D Charge payable to CW&C: – Basic Band D £1,320.40 – Special Expense (Band D) £12.53 – Total Payable (Band D) £1,332.93
Special Expenses in Practice – Play Areas • In 2016/17 CW&C pays for the maintenance of 92 non-strategic play areas in 23 areas across the borough, funded through Special Expense charges. • The maintenance of a number of other play areas across the borough is paid for by parish and town councils. This is funded through local precepts. • The special expense charge is currently calculated based on the total cost of CW&C provision per area divided by the taxbase of the area. For example, if a parish with a taxbase of 1,000 has 2 play areas maintained by CW&C at a cost of £5k, the annual Band D Special Expense charge will be £5. • Due to differences in the number/size of play areas and the taxbase of parishes, 2016/17 charges varied between £0.51 and £24.89.
Special Expenses in Practice – Play Areas • The estimated cost of each play area is calculated by considering the following: • Staff time, vehicle costs and equipment costs for: • Litter picking/bin emptying • Mechanical sweeping • Grass cutting • Shrub and tree works • Internal inspections • Repairs and maintenance • External inspections • Insurance costs
Special Expenses Consultation – Play Areas • Three options are being considered for the allocation of Special Expense charges for non-strategic play areas (Question 1): • Option 1 – residents in all 23 areas with a CW&C maintained play area should be charged a flat rate Special Expense. The indicative flat rate charge is £4.47. • Option 2 – residents in all areas should contribute towards the cost of maintaining non-strategic play areas across the borough. • In parishes where all non-strategic play areas are maintained by the parish/town council, this will be through the local precept only. • In parishes with only CW&C maintained play areas/no play areas, this will be through a flat rate Special Expense charge. • In parishes where both CW&C and the local town/parish council maintain play areas, this will be through both the local precept and a Special Expense charge of the lower of the flat rate or the charge based on the current methodology. The indicative flat rate charge is £4.40. • Option 3 – continue to charge residents based on the current methodology.
Special Expenses in Practice – Christmas Lights CW&C currently pays for Christmas Lighting in several • areas across the borough, funded through Special Expense charges. • For each area where CW&C pays for Christmas Lighting, the average cost over the previous 4 years is calculated. This cost is then charged as a Special Expense solely to residents in that area. For example, if an area’s 4 year average cost of • Christmas lights was £30k and its taxbase was 5,000, the Special Expense charge for a Band D resident would be £6. • Several town and parish councils pay for their own Christmas lighting e.g. Northwich, Frodsham. This is funded through parish precepts.
Special Expenses Consultation – Christmas Lights The consultation puts forward two options for allocating the cost of Christmas lights in Chester city centre to residents (Question 3): • Option 1 – a charge (£2.57 indicative) is made to residents of the City of Chester parliamentary constituency which includes the following parishes, as well as the unparished area of Chester: Aldford & Saighton (part) Huntington Backford Lea by Backford Capenhurst & Ledsham (part) Littleton Christleton (part) Mollington Dodleston Poulton & Pulford Eaton & Eccleston Puddington Great Boughton Saughall & Shotwick Park Guilden Sutton Upton by Chester • Option 2 – continue to charge the cost of Chester city centre Christmas lights to residents in the Chester unparished area only.
Special Expenses Consultation – Christmas Lights The consultation puts forward two options to spread the costs of Christmas lights in Ellesmere Port and Neston to residents (Question 4). • Option 1 – a charge (£1.91 indicative) is made to residents of the Ellesmere Port & Neston parliamentary constituency which includes the following parishes, as well as the unparished area of Ellesmere Port: Capenhurst & Ledsham (part) Dunham on the Hill & Hapsford (part) Elton Ince Little Stanney Mickle Trafford Neston Thornton-le-Moors • Option 2 – continue to charge the cost of Ellesmere Port’s Christmas lights to residents in the Ellesmere Port unparished area only, and continue to charge the cost of Neston’s Christmas lights to residents in the Neston area only.
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