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Bands and Charges

The Council Tax is a local tax set by the Council to help pay for local services. All domestic properties are valued by the Listing Officer of the Inland Revenue, and placed into one of 8 Valuation Bands. The amount payable is based on the market value of the property as of 1 April 1991.

You can use the search boxes below to view the current year's charges and parish precept details.

For more information about parish budgets and activities only, please contact your parish clerk. For all other areas or queries contact Sefton Council on 0345 140 0845.


The amount of Council Tax you pay depends on charges raised by Sefton Council, Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority and the Liverpool City Region - Mayoral Precept.

Sefton Council has set a COUNCIL TAX of £1,730.14 for its own (and levied) services for BAND C properties not affected by parish precepts. This includes an additional amount of £249.37 for a precept to help fund Adult Social Care (ASC) - see below for an explanation of this precept.

The Merseyside Police and Fire Authorities have set charges of £235.53 and £81.11 respectively. The Liverpool City Region - Mayoral Precept is £16.89

The total Band C Council Tax set for Sefton for 2024/2025 will therefore be £2,063.67.

The total 2024/2025 Council tax set for each valuation band is as follows:

Valuation Band

Tax Proportion

Sefton Council (excl. ASC Precept)

Sefton Council – ASC Precept

Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority

Liverpool City Region Mayoral Precept

Council Tax charge 2024/2025

(based on 2 or more residents and prior to any parish precepts)

A

(up to £40k)

6/9

1,110.58

187.03

176.65

60.83

12.67

1,547.76

B

(£40k - £52k)

7/9

1,295.66

218.21

206.09

70.97

14.78

1,805.71

C

(£52k - £68k)

8/9

1,480.77

249.37

235.53

81.11

16.89

2,063.67

D

(£68k - £88k)

1

1,665.86

280.55

264.97

91.25

19.00

2,321.63

E

(£88k - £120k)

11/9

2,036.07

342.88

323.85

111.53

23.22

2,837.55

F

(£120k - £160k)

13/9

2,406.25

405.23

382.73

131.81

27.44

3,353.46

G

(£160k - £320k)

15/9

2,776.45

467.57

441.62

152.08

31.67

3,869.39

H

(over £320k)

2

3,331.74

561.08

529.94

182.50

38.00

4,643.26

Notes:

  1. The Tax Base for Sefton Council in 2024/2025 is estimated to be 86,458.90. This represents the estimated number of Band “D” Equivalent properties.
  2. Band “D” Equivalent is the statutory method of expressing the cost of Council Tax for any given area if all properties are valued as a proportion of a Band D property.

 

The Secretary of State made an offer to adult social care authorities. (“Adult social care authorities” are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.)

The offer was the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional “precept” on its council tax without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting its expenditure on adult social care from the financial year 2016-17. It was originally made in respect of the financial years up to and including 2019-20. If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to the approval of the House of Commons.”

Council Tax Bill 2024/25

For 2024/2025 the Council was allowed to increase total Council Tax by 3% (above the 2023/2024 level) without the need to hold a referendum. Sefton’s increase was 2.99%.

In addition, since 2016/2017 Councils have been able to increase total Council Tax by a further amount to contribute to the funding of Adult Social Care (known as the Adult Social Care Precept). Sefton’s increase was 2% in 2016/2017 (the maximum allowed). The maximum increase in 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 was 3% in any one year but subject to a maximum increase of 6% across the three years. Sefton implemented increases of 3% in both 2017/2018 and 2018/2019. Therefore, as Sefton had already implemented the 6% maximum increase across the period, no increase could be made in 2019/2020. For 2020/2021 the maximum increased allowed for the Adult Social Care Precept was 2%. Sefton’s increase was 2%. For 2021/2022 the maximum increased allowed for the Adult Social Care Precept was 3%. Sefton’s increase was 3%. For 2022/2023 the maximum increase allowed for the Adult Social Care Precept was 1%. Sefton’s increase was 1%. For 2023/2024 the maximum increase allowed for the Adult Social Care Precept is 2%. Sefton’s increase was 2%.

For 2024/2025 the maximum increase allowed for the Adult Social Care Precept is 2%. Sefton’s increase is 2%. The total increase in Council Tax in 2024/2025 is therefore 4.99%.

The presentation of the Adult Social Care Precept information on Council Tax Bills is prescribed in the ‘Council Tax (Demand Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2017’. A copy of the regulations and associated explanatory notes can be accessed via the 'related links' area of this page.

The Regulations prescribe that the Adult Social Care Precept amount shown under 2023/2024 should be the total of the amount raised in 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023 and 2023/24 plus any amount raised in 2024/2025. In addition, the percentage increase shown must be the 2024/2025 Precept divided by the 2023/2024 total Council Tax amount for Sefton, i.e. 2%.

Therefore the Demand Notices show the total accumulative amount of Adult Social Care Precepts charged to date as well as the element of the total Council Tax percentage increase that relates to the Precept (2% out of a total of 4.99%). The Council has no discretion on how this information is shown on Council Tax Demand Notices.

To illustrate how the increase is calculated, the following example shows how the percentages have been calculated for 2024/25 based on a Band D property. A similar calculation applies to properties in other Council Tax bands.

Precept attribution example on a Band D property:

Detail on bill

2023/24

Detail on bill

2024/25

Increase

Sefton Council

£1,610.43

Sefton Council

£1665.86

2.99% of 2023/24 total area charge

Adult Social Care precept

£243.47

Adult Social Care precept

£280.55

2.0% of 2023/24 total area charge plus 2023/24 precept £243.47

Sefton Council area total

£1,853.90

Sefton Council area total

£1946.41

4.99%

The Sefton Council increase shown above for 2024/25 is calculated based on the total Sefton Council charges for 2023/24 (in this example, £1,853.90).

  • £1,853.90 x 2.99% = £55.43 
  • this amount is then added to the 2023/24 Sefton Council charge of £1610.43
  • £1610.43 (last year's Sefton Council charge) + £55.43 (this year's increase) = £1,665.86 (2024/25 Sefton Council charge).

The Adult Social Care increase shown above for 2024/25 is also calculated based on the total Sefton Council charges for 2023/24 (in this example, £1,853.90).

The Adult Social Care precept percentage change is calculated as follows:

  •  £1,853.90 x 2.0% = £37.08
  • this amount is then added to the 2023/24 Adult Social Care precept of £243.47, as this is an accumulated charge.
  • £243.47 (last year's Adult Social Care precept) + £37.08 (this year's increase) = £280.55 (2024/25 Adult Social Care precept).

If you live in one of Sefton's ten parishes, a parish precept is included in your Council Tax charge. These precepts are included in the total budget requirements for Sefton Council as a billing Authority. This individual parish precept is added to the Sefton, Police and Fire amounts to give the full charge for the financial year.

For example, consider a Band C property in Aintree Village. Sefton Council has set a charge of £1,730.14 (including the Adult Social Care precept of £249.37), Merseyside Police and Fire Authorities charges of £235.53 and £81.11 respectively and the Liverpool City Region Mayoral Precept of £16.89. The Aintree Parish Precept of £74.59 is then added.

When those five figures are added together, the full charge for a Band C property in Aintree Village will be £2,138.26.  

Parish Precepts Over £140,000
There is a requirement to publish budget details for all Parish Councils that have issued a precept above £140,000.

Aintree Parish Council has issued a precept to the Council of £174,522 for 2024/2025. Details of Aintree’s budget for 2024/2025 are shown below:

Expenditure

£

Income

£

Staffing Costs

General Expenditure

94,250

84,597

Precept

Transfer from General Reserves

174,522

4,325

 

178,847

 

178,847

Lydiate Parish Council has issued a precept to the Council of £227,100 for 2024/2025. Details of Lydiate’s budget for 2024/2025 are shown below:

Expenditure

£

Income

£

Staffing Costs

General Expenditure

198,700

81,100

Precept

Other Income

Transfer from General Reserves

227,100

47,180

6,544

 

279,800

 

279,800

Maghull Town Council has issued a precept to the Council of £856,115 for 2024/2025. Details of Maghull’s budget for 2024/2025 are shown below:

Expenditure

£

Income

£

Staffing Costs

General Expenditure

467,680

459,885

Precept

Other Income

856,115

71,450

 

927,565

 

927,565

If you are the person liable for Council Tax, and you are not happy with the band into which your property has been placed, you have certain rights of appeal.

The grounds for appeal about banding are restricted to the following cases:

  • where you believe that the banding should be changed because there has been a material increase or material reduction (this is explained below) in the dwelling's value;
  • where you start or stop using part of your dwelling to carry out business, or the balance between domestic and business use changes;
  • where the Listing Officer has altered a list without a proposal having been made by a taxpayer;
  • where you become the taxpayer in respect of a dwelling for the first time. (Your appeal must be made within 6 months. If the same appeal has already been considered and determined by a Valuation Tribunal, it cannot be made again).

A material increase in the value may result from building, engineering, or other work carried out on the dwelling. In these cases, revaluation does not take place until a sale, so the person appealing would usually be the new owner or resident.

A material reduction in value may result from the demolition of any part of the dwelling or from any change in the physical state of the local area. It could result from an adaptation to make the dwelling suitable for use by someone with a physical disability.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) values domestic properties for council tax. This valuation is used to set your council tax band.

If you think your Council Tax band is wrong you should contact the VOA at www.gov.uk/contact-voa or on Tel No. 03000 501 501

Making an appeal does not allow you to withhold payment pending the outcome. If your appeal is successful, you will be entitled to a refund of any overpaid Council Tax.

 

 


Last Updated on Tuesday, March 5, 2024

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