Halesworth Town Council Precept Statement
At the January monthly meeting Halesworth Town Council had to make a difficult decision to increase the precept. Last year the Council kept the precept unchanged for tax payers in the town but for the next financial year the Council was juggling with a much higher budget for 2023 – 2024, potentially over 20%. The Council agreed to minimise this rise and take up some of the shortfall from its reserves. The net result is an 8.49% increase which in currency terms is an additional £6.91 per year for a band D house, or 13.3p per week.
A comparison to other Market Towns is shown below, again using the average band D house as a mid-point. This is comparing Halesworth’s 2023 – 2024 precept against the other town’s 2022 – 2023 precepts because we do not have their data for 2023 – 2024 as yet. You can see that Halesworth has a lower precept than all of our local towns in the district except Beccles, which is supported by additional income from other sources. We have also shown all the other house bands for your information in the table further below; however, the percentage increase will remain the same across all bands.
It is worth noting that the precept has nothing to do with business tax which is determined at Government level and administered by East Suffolk Council.
Typically, the precept for towns and villages in 2022 – 2023 represented just 3.9% of your Council Tax. The vast majority of your bill goes towards paying for District and County services and the Police.
However small these precept numbers appear, relative to the overall Council Tax bill; the Town Council is very conscious that this increase may add to other household burdens and it may be difficult for some residents. If you are concerned about this and you are on low income or claim benefits you may be able to claim to up to a 100% reduction via the Government Council Tax Reduction Scheme.
| Town | 22/23 Band D per year | 23/24 Band D per year |
| Aldeburgh | £114.31 | Not yet available |
| Beccles | £39.74 | Not yet available |
| Bungay | £95.18 | Not yet available |
| Framlingham | £105.31 | Not yet available |
|
Halesworth |
£81.34 |
£88.25 |
| Kessingland | £96.59 | Not yet available |
| Leiston | £171.63 | Not yet available |
| Lowestoft | £146.63 | Not yet available |
| Saxmundham | £143.28 | Not yet available |
| Southwold | £109.59 | Not yet available |
| Woodbridge | £119.50 | Not yet available |
The reason for the increase in Halesworth is to improve our town now that East Suffolk Council has begun the process of transferring the London Rd Building, Public Toilets, the Park and many Open Spaces to the Town Council’s ownership. It is needed in order to improve these assets for residents and visitors, to provide more services, increase the staff to manage these assets and to deliver on many new projects and events for the benefit of all.
All House Bands Precept Per Annum Increase Per Week
2023 – 2024 2023 – 2024 2023 - 2024
|
Band A |
59.13 |
8.9p |
|
Band B |
68.83 |
10.4p |
| Band C | 78.54 |
11.8p |
| Band D |
88.25 |
13.3p |
|
Band E |
107.66 |
16.2p |
|
Band F |
127.08 |
19.1p |
|
Band G |
147.37 |
22.2p |
|
Band H |
176.50 |
26.6p |