Council Tax update

Of the five authorities in the SWAN area funded through the Council Tax, South Willesborough and Newtown Community Council is pleased to report that it was the only one of the five to reduce its portion in 2020/21.  From £36 a year to £30 on average – which represents a 14% reduction!

Peter Porter, Chair of SWAN’s Finance and General Purposes Committee says :

“The amount we asked for to cover our costs is £7000 less than the previous year. This is not only due to sensible budgeting and staff management but also a higher than forecast level of income from a potential sponsorship arrangement, which will help us to reduce our costs and a sizable sum of VAT we can recover this year”

The largest element of the Council tax you pay (74%) goes to Kent County Council followed, in order of tax demand, by Kent Police and Crime Commissioner (11%), Ashford Borough Council (9%) and Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Service (4%) SWAN Community Council (2%) is by far the smallest authority with a budget of just £45000 a year compared to £1.5 billion for Kent County Council for example.

Peter Porter continues:

“We wanted to do our bit to reduce costs for our local residents in these austere times. Our prime role is to represent, inform and promote the SWAN community. The cost to do that works out at 57p a week per household – about a quarter of the cost of a cup of coffee”

A more detailed explanation of “who does what for how much” will appear in the next newsletter.