Wheatley Hill Parish Council approved its budget for 2024-2025 in the sum of £133,062 at a meeting of the Parish Council held on 11 December 2023.
The introduction by Central Government of a Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme grant which replaced the Council Tax Benefit Scheme significantly changed the calculation of the tax-base upon which Council Tax is calculated. The Parish Council is not financially independent and relies upon Central Government grant support to compensate for the loss of tax-base. The grant support is paid to Durham County Council who then redistribute the grant to parishes.
Durham County Council have advised that they will be reducing the LCTRS grant payment to the Parish Council by 50%, phased in over three financial years, starting in 2024/2025.
The Parish Council requires a budget of £133,062 for the 2024/2025 financial year. To off-set the budget the Parish Council will use £5,598 of reserves and receive a LCTRS grant of £6,783. After deducting the £5,598 reserves and the £6,783 grant from the Council’s budget this will produce a precept requirement of £120,062. The total amount requested from Durham County Council for 2024/2025 is £127,464.
This is an increase of 3% to the precept which provides the Parish Council with an additional £977 to spend. This equates to a 1.88% increase for a Band D property in Wheatley Hill which is now £153.11.
