RACKHEATH

What is precept?

Precept is a tax that Parish Council’s charge their local electors to meet their budget requirements. Parish Councils do not receive any direct funding from central government and rely on their Precept plus any other income they generate from services or facilities they provide. The Parish Council Precept is part of the Council Tax and is collected from local electors via their Council Tax payments.

 

How is it calculated?

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The Precept requirement is the difference between the Parish Council’s estimated income and its anticipated spending requirements for the financial year (its budget). The financial year runs from 1st April to 31st March. The Parish Council needs to agree a budget before it can set its Precept, and both must be agreed by the full Parish Council. When calculating the Precept, the Parish Council takes into consideration:

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• current year’s spending levels - for ongoing services for which it is responsible e.g. recreation facilities, lighting, grass & hedge cutting across the parish, insurance and cost of the Parish Office

• costs of any additional spending plans or projects

• provision for contingencies and reserves

• levels of anticipated income

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Once a Precept has been approved by the Parish Council, they inform Broadland District Council and it is then added to residents Council Tax bills. Broadland District Council pay the Precept to the Parish Council in two instalments (Apr and Sept).

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Why is our precept increasing for 2024-2025 financial year?

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Rackheath Community Council has been mindful of the impacts of COVID19 and the uncertainty of changing times and has made minimal changes to its precept over the past 4 years, but our community is evolving, and our budgeting needs are changing.  We find ourselves in a situation where we are no longer a small village and we are transitioning towards a town council. 

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As a council we have been impacted by inflation, the cost of materials/services/utilities and this has meant we have had to increase our budgets to cover costs. 

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Whilst Rackheath Community Council are in receipt of Section 106 (S106) and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding from recent housing developments, these funds can only be allocated to infrastructure projects to support the development of an area, or to increase capacity of existing facilities, and have time restraints.  Examples uses are play areas, parks and green spaces, cultural and sports facilities.  These funds cannot be used for maintenance and day-to-day running of a council.

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As a community council we are keen to ensure that as our community grows, so should its facilities and services.  Whilst many new projects will be funded by S106 & CIL, we need to increase staffing at our Parish office to ensure resilience, increase output and ensure that where projects are delivered, they are well maintained for all to enjoy.  We are also mindful that our existing assets should be kept in good order to increase their use and their lifetime and therefore our maintenance budgets have increased accordingly.

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Precepts for 2024-2025 will be increasing by approx. 22p per day for a band D home.

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The decision to increase the precept has not been taken lightly, it is important to us that our S106 and CIL funds are invested into our community and not lost, and that we achieve the best outcomes for all. We hope you will support us in trying to move our council forward to develop the local services & facilities we deserve as a growing community.