Council Tax budget information

We operate a ‘special expenses’ charging policy to ensure fairness and transparency in the way in which services and facilities are provided and charged to local taxpayers. Special expenses adjustments are made in relation to the costs of open access play spaces as these are provided by us in some parts of the borough but by a local town or parish council elsewhere. Where the town or parish council delivers the service the local taxpayer pays for that service as part of their local precept (this appears separately on your council tax bill). However, if no adjustment is made to our charge, the same individuals will also be contributing to the cost of us providing these services elsewhere in the borough. Without a separately identified special expenses charge, local taxpayers in those areas would therefore be charged twice.

To remedy this, the average Cheshire West and Chester charges shown above are lowered to reach a base level charge that everyone would pay. For a band D property the reduction in 2024-25 is £1.68 which results in a base band D charge of £1,882.39 (the deduction/base for other bands varies proportionately in line with the ratio for each band in the table above). This base charge is then supplemented by adding a separate special expenses charge if we provide the relevant services in your area. The amount of the special expenses charge depends on the extent of the relevant functions provided by us in your area. If all relevant services are provided by a town or parish council in your area then your special expenses charge will be nil.

If the ‘Combined Cheshire West and Chester charge’ shown on the face of your council tax bill is more than the average for your band in the table above this reflects the fact that we provide relatively higher levels of the relevant services in your area. This policy does not raise any additional income for us; it merely helps align the charges more closely to those areas that benefit from the services it provides.