More council tax to be collected in Doncaster due to the new homes that have been built in the borough

Cabinet members on Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) agreed a new council tax base which requires councils to formulate costs for a ‘band D’ equivalent property.

Mayor Ros Jones told colleagues that the extra homes built, the formula change and the predicted council tax rise of 1.99 per cent, will benefit the council’s coffers in the region of £1.9 million.

She said: “The law requires that properties are expressed into terms of their ‘band D’ equivalent - but 87 per cent are in bands A, B and C.

“This has the effect of considerably lowering Doncaster’s council tax base.”

But because the majority of homes of Doncaster fall into the lowest tier of band A, cabinet members said this hampered the council’s ability to bring in high amounts of revenue to spend on services.

Around 87 per cent of homes in Doncaster fall into either bands A, B or C.

Residents living in a band D property in Doncaster - a home priced between £68,000 and £88,000 - will pay around £1,600 a year.

In Chobham in Surrey Heath, a household on band D pays nearly £2,000 a year.

The council tax base provides a setting for the amount of what is payable for the forthcoming year.

The base must be set from a prescribed formula which is set out in law and represents a number a of properties that will be subject to council tax after discounts, premiums and relief.

Mayor Jones added: “Over the past three years, 3,946 new homes have been built in the borough and over 63 per cent of these properties are in band A or B and further 14 per cent in band C...based on the band D charge on the current year, it is estimated 1.99 council tax increases for 2020/2021 - the rise in tax base is predicted to bring in an additional just under £1.9 million.”

A draft budget is expected to be brought before councillors at a meeting on March 5.