Agenda item

1.    That Cabinet approves the Collection Fund surplus estimate of £43,362.84as at 31 March 2021. The Dacorum Borough Council share of this surplus is £5,268.18.

2.    That Cabinet approve the distribution profile for the surplus identified at 1.) as required by the Collection Fund: Surplus and Deficit (Coronavirus)(England) Regulations 2020.  This is contained at section 2.8 of the Cabinet report.

3.    That Cabinet approves the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2021/22 incorporating an estimated collection rate of 99.4%.

4.    That, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by the Council as its tax base for the year 2021/22 shall be 58,693.7 and its constituent elements shall be:

Decision

1.    That Cabinet approves the Collection Fund surplus estimate of £43,362.84as at 31 March 2021. The Dacorum Borough Council share of this surplus is £5,268.18.

2.    That Cabinet approve the distribution profile for the surplus identified at 1.) as required by the Collection Fund: Surplus and Deficit (Coronavirus)(England) Regulations 2020.  This is contained at section 2.8 of the Cabinet report.

3.    That Cabinet approves the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2021/22 incorporating an estimated collection rate of 99.4%.

4.    That, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by the Council as its tax base for the year 2021/22 shall be 58,693.7 and its constituent elements shall be:

Deputy Monitoring Officer

No comments to add to the report.

Section 151 Officer

This is a Section 151 officer report.

Advice

Councillor Elliot introduced the report to members which recommends that Cabinet approve the collection fund surplus for 2020/21 and setting of the council tax base for 2021/22. These are both statutory requirements as part of the council budget setting process. Under item 1, the collection fund surplus arises from a timing difference between collecting council tax and paying out to the other council tax preceptors in the county. The report shows the surplus at £43,362 to be split between the Hertfordshire preceptors as outlined in the statute. Item 2, annually the council is required to use a prescribed formula to estimate the number of band D equivalent properties in the borough and so the council tax base for 2021/22 is calculated to be £58,693 band D equivalent households.

Councillor Griffiths referred to paragraph 2.3 of the report in reference to the surplus estimated as at 31 March 2021. She asked for clarification if this was based on what it was in 2020 or what the cut-off date was for this estimate.

N Howcutt said there were two elements. The surplus of deficit is calculated a year in arrears as the budget is set and the payments to the preceptors are estimated and at the end of the financial year, it is calculated and that is what the surplus is. The payment in 2021/22 relates to the previous financial year because we have to wait for all the payments to be made. The second element is the council tax base and the baseline for that is at 30 November 2020 and is put into a formula and this gives the projected council tax base for the subsequent financial year. One is forward looking and one is backward looking.

Councillor Griffiths queried the low figure for new builds despite the increase in new homes being built.

N Howcutt said the surplus is not reflective of the new builds. The small surplus means our estimates were accurate.

Councillor Williams said Councillor Griffiths was referring to the financial implication section of the report which shows the council tax base growth seems relatively small to the development happening in the borough.

N Howcutt said the estimates show lower growth for next year mainly due to the delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We are projecting the same growth next year but we will be starting from a lower baseline.

Recommendations agreed.