Phone payments issue

We are curently having issues with our payments system, which means we are unable to take Council Tax payments over our automated phone line. We are working on the problem urgently and thank you for your patience. We apologise for any inconvenience.

We collect Council Tax to pay for local services.

Your Council Tax bill is made up of five elements, which are split between:

We issue one bill for each home, no matter what type of property it is, or whether it is owned or rented.

You can look at GOV.UK to find out who is responsible for paying Council Tax.

Your bill is based on your Council Tax band. The Valuation Office Agency allocate Council Tax bands.

Council Tax has increased by 2.99% on average across all Chelmsford residents. That is £6.44 for a property in Band D (less than 13p per week).

Some areas will see a larger increase while other areas will see a smaller increase, or a decrease.

We share out costs known as 'special expenses' across the city. This depends on whether parish councils provide the same services that we do.

If a parish council provides the same services that we do, that part of the city is not charged for those items. This means that residents aren't taxed at both parish and city level for the same service.

The pattern of increases and decreases is due to changes in the way we calculate special expenses. We review the special expenses figures each year to make sure the changes reflect the costs, so we share out Council Tax fairly.

The amount we charge each resident will depend on:

  • the services and functions provided by the parish council in your area (if there is one), and
  • the services and functions we perform for residents

We charge Council Tax through general expenses and special expenses.

General expenses are the majority of the charge and is evenly charged across all taxpayers.

Special expenses are charged to a specific parish or unparished area where that area benefits from the services provided.

If a parish council provides a service that we also provide, our expenditure is a special expense.

If the parish provides the service, this is charged for as part of their parish precept. The precept is the parish council's share of the council tax.

Special expenses make sure taxpayers in the areas which provide the services and charge for them though their parish precepts, don't get taxed twice for the same type of expenditure.

For example, we maintain play areas across the city, but some parishes also maintain play areas separately from us. Therefore, a parish council that maintains a play area will charge for this expenditure in their parish precept, but they would not be charged for this through their special expenses.

A parish council that doesn’t maintain any play areas, but has play areas maintained by us would be charged for this through special expenses.

The Secretary of State made an offer to adult social care authorities. (“Adult social care authorities” are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.) 

The offer was the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional “precept” on its council tax without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting its expenditure on adult social care from the financial year 2016-17. It was originally made in respect of the financial years up to and including 2019-20. If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to the approval of the House of Commons. 

On your Council Tax bill, the increase in the charge (or precept) for Adult Social Care is shown as 2%.

This 2% is the increase in the charge for Adult Social Care as a proportion of Essex County Council's total charge for 2023/2024.

The increase between this year's and last year's Adult Social Care charge is 14.68%. 

This means that for a band D property, the increase is £28.98, as last year's amount was £197.46 and this year's is £226.44.

Increases for each band

Band A:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £131.64
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £150.96
  • Increase: £19.32

Band B:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £153.58
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £176.12
  • Increase: £22.54

Band C:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £175.52
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £201.28
  • Increase: £25.76

Band D:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £197.46
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £226.44
  • Increase: £28.98

Band E:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £241.34
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £276.76
  • Increase: £35.42

Band F:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £285.22
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £327.08
  • Increase: £41.86

Band G:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £329.10
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £377.40
  • Increase: £48.30

Band H:

  • Adult Social Care charge for 2023/24: £394.92
  • Adult Social Care charge for 2024/25: £452.88
  • Increase: £57.96

Is there something wrong with this page?

You can report issues with the website using our website feedback form, which will go directly to the Web Team. This team will be unable to deal with your enquiry if it is not related to the website.