Understanding your council tax bill

The amount of council tax you pay in 2024/25 will depend on:

  • The council tax band for your property
  • Whether you are entitled to any discounts, exemptions or relief on the full bill

Your council tax helps to fund local services, such as social care for vulnerable people and support for children, young adults and elderly people. It also pays for waste and recycling, schools, libraries, leisure centres, street cleaning, parks and much more.

The amount you have to pay depends on which of the eight council tax bands your home is in.

The amount you have to pay depends on which of the eight Council Tax bands your home is in. A government body called the Valuation Office Agency decides which band your property is in. Your bill tells you which band you’re in. You may have to pay the full amount or you may be entitled to a discount (e.g. if you live on your own or you are on a low income and qualify for Council Tax Support).

Example breakdown for the 2024/25, council tax band D (excluding the charge for individual towns and parishes):

  • North Northamptonshire Council and adult social care: £1,740.22
  • Police: £306.04
  • Fire: £75.39
  • Total: £2,121.65

Town and parish councils may levy a separate amount called a precept that may form part of your council tax bill.

How our spending and expenditure breaks down in 2024/25.

Our income in 2024/25

Similar to other councils, we receive funding for services from a few key sources.  These are the main sources of income:

  • Council tax: 54.2%, £203.58 million
  • Business rates: 30.2%, £113.29 million
  • Grants and other external funding: 14.1%, £52.75 million
  • Use of reserves: 1.5%, £5.71 million
  • Total resources: £375.33 million

Each year the government expects local authorities to raise money to help pay for the cost of providing local services. Some of this money comes from residents of North Northamptonshire and is collected by the council in the form of council tax.

The council also collects council tax on behalf of the police and fire services, and town and parish councils. Your council tax bill includes the charges from these authorities as well as that from North Northamptonshire Council.

Our expenditure in 2024/25

Your council tax helps to fund local services, such as social care for vulnerable people and support for children, young adults and elderly people. It also pays for waste and recycling, schools, libraries, leisure centres, street cleaning, parks and much more:

  • Adult social care services: 38.1%, £143.17 million
  • Children’s services such as schools: 22.8%, £85.42 million
  • Highways, waste and asset management: 17.4%, £63.83 million
  • Corporate core (including borrowing costs, contingency and resources to be allocated): 9.2%, £34.4 million
  • Enabling services (including Customer Services, Revenues and Benefits and support services): 8.2%, £30.68 million
  • Housing, communities, culture and leisure: 3%, £11.39 million
  • Growth and regeneration: 0.9%, £3.54 million
  • Regulatory services (including Trading Standards, Environmental Health and Building Control): 0.8%, £2.9 million
  • Total expenditure: £375.33 million

Those councils responsible for providing adult social care, like North Northamptonshire Council, are allowed to increase their Council Tax by up to 5%.

The part of the bill that relates to adult social care services has been increased by 2%.

Adult social care services support some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, largely those in old age and adults with disabilities.

The government introduced legislation and guidance setting out how adult social care costs are calculated and shown on council tax bills. This guidance has been followed when producing the council tax bills for 2024/25.

Parish councils are able to increase their Council Tax requirements to whatever they feel is needed to run the services they deliver.

Unlike larger authorities, they have no caps on what they can increase their demand by. For more information on your Parish Council's budget and plans, please visit their own respective websites or contact them directly.

The figures relating to general expenditure and adult social care are each accompanied by a percentage increase figure shown on your council tax bill. The percentages show how each part contributes to the overall increase set by North Northamptonshire Council.

North Northamptonshire Council has chosen to increase the part of the Council Tax bill relating to general council expenditure by 2.99%. This is shown as 3% on your bill (the system is restricted to printing to one decimal place).

The percentage increase for North Northamptonshire Council (excluding police, fire services and parish and town councils) is calculated on the combined total of the council’s general expenditure and adult social care charges from last year’s bill.

The percentage increase for adult social care is calculated on the combined total of the North Northamptonshire Council and adult social care charges from last year’s bill. The increase is 2% as shown on your bill.

Last updated 23 February 2024