Council Tax bill explained

Use the links below to find the information you need:

• Who you pay Council Tax to 
• Council Tax charges
• Help to pay your Council Tax bill
• Get your Council Tax bill by email or pay online
• Council Tax Valuation and Banding
• Find your Council Tax band
• Appeal your Council Tax valuation

Who you pay Council Tax to

You pay Council Tax to five different organisations. Each one charges a different amount for their services. These different amounts are added together to make your total Council Tax bill. Wychavon is responsible for collecting the money and passing it on to these other organisations.

In this area you pay Council Tax to these organisations.

Worcestershire County Council

For every pound you pay in Council Tax, 73p is given to Worcestershire County Council. This pays for services including, but not limited to, adult social care, looked after children, road and path maintenance, libraries and waste disposal.

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner

In 2024/25 you will pay 13p in every pound to the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner. This is to help fight crime and keep communities safe.

We keep just 6p in every pound you give us in Council Tax. This funds services including waste and recycling collections, planning services, business support, housing, parks, public toilets, elections, community safety and much more.

Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service

The fire service gets 5p out of every pound of Council Tax. Your money helps to support the work of this service including tackling fires, dealing with road traffic collisions and responding to major emergencies like flooding.

Town/parish council

Every area in Wychavon has a town or parish council. 3p in every pound goes to them. The services they run vary but they can include parks/playgrounds, allotments, cemeteries, bus shelters, Christmas lights and they also comment on planning applications.

Additional charge for adult social care

Adult social care authorities, in our case Worcestershire County Council, are able to increase their share of the Council Tax bill by an extra amount without holding a referendum. For Worcestershire in 2024/25 this is 2% and is specifically to fund the cost of adult social care and is on top of any increase to fund the day-to-day running of services.

More detailed information on how other organisations that charge Council Tax spend your money is available below:

• Worcestershire County Council
• West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner
• Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority

How Worcestershire County Council spends your Council Tax

Below is a message from Cllr Simon Geraghty, Leader of Worcestershire County Council.

I recognise this year will be a tough one for many people across the county. Worcestershire County Council is facing similar challenges too from the impact of inflation on costs and increasing demand for services adding significantly to the pressure on our budget.

With more vulnerable people needing our support than ever before, and with the cost of this care increasing significantly, our budget reflects this added pressure. Government is providing much-needed additional funding, and we have a programme of further efficiencies and reform, however the rising costs and demand on our key services have meant we need a rise in council tax to be able to continue to fund essential services.

The Government is providing additional funding and we are reforming the way we work to deliver savings and efficiencies. However, this is not enough to meet the budget pressures and therefore we need to increase Council Tax to be able to adequately fund these services.

Our Council Tax will though remain one of the lowest of any comparable County Council in the country. The additional funding will mean we can continue to deliver vital children’s and adult social care to protect the most vulnerable in our society, on which we now spend over 70% of our revenue budget. It will also enable us to maintain our commitments to invest in the priorities that you have told us are most important. These include better roads and pavements, tackling 
congestion and improving public transport alongside investments in the economy, environment and extra school places

Worcestershire County Council's Budget for 2024/25

In the 2024/25 financial year Worcestershire County Council's net budget will be £401 million broken down as follows:

• £168 million on Adult Social Care, Public Health and Communities 
• £97 million for Children’s Services
• £76 million for Economy, Infrastructure and Environment
• £35 million for Home to School Transport
• £57 million for Support Services including Finance and Legal

Worcestershire County Council will make investments in the following areas:

• A total of £34m to improve roads and £6m to improve pavements this year
• £78.8m on improving and building new schools including Foxlydiate in Redditch.
• £20.2m on walking and cycling improvements include Hampton and Kepax bridges.
• £53m on cutting congestion and infrastructure improvements including A38 in Bromsgrove
• £17.3m to improve rail station facilities
• £4.6m to continue with our street light improvement programme

With a Gross Budget from Council Tax and Government Grants, Worcestershire County Council will be spending a record amount to help protect the most vulnerable people in our communities:

• £295 million for those who need Adult Social care in 24/25
• £177 million to improve the lives of Children and Young People
• £91 million to support people to live independently for longer through Public Health and Communities

Visit Worcestershire County Council's website for more information on how they spend your Council Tax.

How Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority Spend your Council Tax

Visit the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority website for more information on how they spend your Council Tax.

Council Tax charges

You can check your Council Tax band and the annual charge for your property using Wychavon's My Local Area search. This information will also be on your Council Tax bill.

If you are unsure which band a property is in you can find out by going to the Valuation Office Agency website and searching the Council Tax lists pages.

The charges shown assume that no discounts or exemptions apply. To see if you or the property would qualify for a discount or exemption, please go to our Council Tax discounts and exemptions page.

You may also be entitled to a reduction by qualifying for benefit.  Please go to our Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit pages for more information.

If you cannot find the information you require then please contact our Council Tax team.

Help to pay your Council Tax bill

Depending on your circumstances you may qualify for help with paying your Council Tax bill. Visit our Council Tax Support page for more information.

You may also qualify for certain discounts and exemptions on your Council Tax bill.

Get your Council Tax bill by email or pay online

You can now get your Council Tax bill straight to your inbox as well as make payments online. Sign up for a Council Tax self-service account.

Council Tax Valuation and Banding

Most residential properties are subject to Council Tax. There will be one bill per property, whether it is a house, bungalow, flat, maisonette, mobile home or houseboat, and whether it is owned or rented.

Each property has been placed in one of eight bands according to its open market capital value at 1 April 1991 and this is based on certain assumptions:

• vacant possession
• a freehold interest or;
• if a flat, a 99 year leasehold at a nominal rental and
• the property being in a reasonable state of repair.

The bands are as follows:

• Band A up to £40,000
• Band B between £40,001 and £52,000
• Band C between £52,001 and £68,000
• Band D between £68,001 and £88,000
• Band E between £88,001 and £120,000
• Band F between £120,001 and £160,000
• Band G between £160,001 and £320,000
• Band H more than £320,000

Your Council Tax bill will tell you which band applies to your property.

You can inspect the Valuation List on the Valuation Office Agency website or at a Wychavon Community Contact Centre in Droitwich Spa, Evesham and Pershore.

Find your Council Tax band

You can check your Council Tax band or rate using My Local Area by putting in your postcode into the database.

Appeal your Council Tax valuation

If you think you have been placed in the wrong Council Tax band then you can challenge it by contacting the Valuation Office Agency. Visit challenge your council tax band on the Government's website for more information on how to do this. 

You can also find more information on Wychavon's appeal your Council Tax page.