Stratford-on-Avon District Council officials are warning residents about the importance of paying Council Tax, as failure to do so could result in bankruptcy proceedings being commenced.
Stratford-on-Avon District Council collects Council Tax on behalf of all the public services* in the Stratford District and usually collects in the region of 99% of what is due.
At the end of March 2015 the Council had collected 98.61% of the Council Tax due for 2014/15. However, despite this excellent record of collecting Council Tax, there are still some customers who do not pay. When this happens the Council takes relevant recovery action and when necessary will instigate bankruptcy proceedings.
The District Council took bankruptcy action against a local couple from Studley who owed the Council nearly £9,000 in Council Tax for three properties. The Bankruptcy Order was made in February 2014, but straight after the hearing the couple paid all the outstanding Council Tax plus the costs that had been incurred for bankruptcy action.
Cllr Maurice Howse, Enterprise, Housing & Revenues Portfolio says: “It is the District Council's responsibility to collect council tax and we work hard to ensure that our collection rates are as high as possible and that everyone pays what is due.
“We are aware that people can fall behind with payments and are therefore anxious to offer help to spread payments. Where there are outstanding debts however we will seek to recover them in line with our recovery policy.
“Stratford District Council needs to ensure that it is sympathetic towards and works with those who are sincerely struggling to pay high bills, but at the same time we must crack down on the hard core of residents who are refusing to pay year on year, as that is unacceptable."
* Council tax is collected on behalf of Warwickshire County Council (including Fire & Rescue), Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Parish and Town Councils with precepts and Warwickshire Police / The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.)
