Average council tax bill tops £1,000

North Yorkshire agreed a council tax rise of 11.5 per cent to ensure no cuts in services during the next financial year at its meeting this week.

There are four elements to your council tax bill, with the biggest by far being the amount paid to North Yorkshire, which provides services such as education, social services and highways.

The rise agreed this week adds £84 to the "average" band D property, taking it to £817.

The Police Authority has already met and agreed a rise to £88.59 a year for a band D property.

And meeting last night (Thursday) was the third element in the council tax, Craven District Council, which provides services such as planning, refuse collection and environmental health. It was proposing to charge band D home owners £122.90 this year - a combined total of £1,028.

The fourth element in the council tax bill is the precept charged by local parishes for their administration and to implement any village schemes.

It is a relatively small amount and some parishes do not raise any money at all.

Skipton Town Council has set its precept for a band D household at £43.48.

The bill is sent out by Craven District Council, which is also responsible for collection and non-payment, although it only keeps about 12 per cent of the total, the bulk going to North Yorkshire.

Owners of non-band D properties will face the same percentage rises, the total being greater or smaller than the amounts quoted for band D depending upon the size of the property.

The rises are a big increase - 11.5 per cent in the case of North Yorkshire, seven per cent for Craven and a huge 72 per cent for the Police Authority.

But the county council is pointing out that North Yorkshire is still one of the lowest taxing authorities of its size.

"North Yorkshire currently stands 27th out of 34 shire counties for its level of council tax and could drop even further when the final figures are fixed," said a spokesman.

Coun John Weighell, the leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said it was clear from the budget consultation exercise that the county's residents don't want to lose important services.

He said: "These are very difficult times for public services in rural areas, as we have already seen with the police. The Government's new funding formula has moved money away from the shire counties to urban areas.

"We estimate to have lost about £10 million from our funding share as a result of the new formula. So, we've had to face up to some very tough decisions which have had to be made.

"We recognise that the services we provide at county council level are vital to all our communities.

"Where possible we want to improve them further and that's why a council tax of 11.5 per cent was proposed."

Key features will include:

o Improving prevention work with vulnerable children.

o Increased investment in road improvements and flood prevention work.

o Maintaining planned improvements in public libraries.

o Increasing investment to prevent bed-blocking.

Senior county councillors discussed a proposed rise in the council tax with residents at key meetings across North Yorkshire last month

Coun Weighell added: "We've listened carefully to what people have said to us.

"They've given us a clear message that they don't want services cut. I can assure people that value for money and high quality services remain at the heart of our approach.

"The package we've put together demonstrates our commitment to securing the improvements we've made in recent years."

The new Government formula for calculating how much councils should spend is being used for the first time this year.

Working on the new formula the Government believes that North Yorkshire County Council should be spending about £35 million extra for 2003/2004.

The Government is giving North Yorkshire an extra £15 million this year.

But that leaves a gap of more than £19 million between what the Government is giving the county council and what the new formula suggests should be spent on services.