Council Tax Agreement
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and Horley Town Council have agreed under Section 136 of the Local Government Act 1972, that the Borough Council shall pay the Town Council an annual contribution of £35,000 (inflation linked) for the next ten years. This resolves an outstanding issue that Horley Town Council has raised with RBBC over several years. Horley Town Council raises funds through its precept, but Horley’s council tax payers also pay for services that are provided in the rest of the Borough. The amount has been agreed to alleviate the overall cost of concurrent services which include, for example, grounds maintenance for recreation areas. This will enable a number of HTC’s specific projects, which have had to be put on hold in previous years, to be considered in future. For clarification the amount received will be paid back to the Town Council and not to individual rate payers in the form of a rebate this year, but will be used to ensure the Town Council continues to provide good value services and facilities to residents and could in future years mitigate increases in the precept.
Cllr Richard Olliver of Horley Town Council stated that “this agreement places the Town Council on an even footing and establishes a more level playing field by alleviating the Double Taxation burden. Apart from one other parish council, the rest of the Borough is unparished. The issue of residents having to pay for facilities in Horley as well as contributing towards similar facilities in the rest of the Borough, has now been fairly resolved.“
