Report by Director of Finance

The Director of Finance submitted a report seeking approval for the calculations for determining the Council’s Council Tax requirement for the year 2026/27 in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992.  The report also set out the Council Tax amounts for each property valuation band in the Borough including precepts notified from the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley and the Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service.

The report noted that the calculation of Council Tax involved several stages, and the Local Government Finance Act 1992 required figures to be calculated including and excluding precepts.  The Council, in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, set its own band D amount by dividing its Council Tax requirement (as set out in Appendix 1 of the report on the 2026/26 Budget - item 47 above refers) by the agreed number of band D equivalent properties (its Tax Base).  This calculation was set out in Table 1 in the report. Table 2 showed 2026/27 Council Tax by Property Valuation Band A-G, and Table 3 showed the overall 2026/27 Council Tax by Property Valuation Band Including the Major Preceptors of the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley and the Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service.

The following motion was moved by Councillor Terry and seconded by Councillor Leng and CARRIED:

Resolved -

(1)       That the following amounts that had been calculated for the year 2026/27 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 be agreed:

(a)       £532,709,000 Gross Revenue Expenditure being the estimated aggregate expenditure of the Council in accordance with section 31A (2) of the Act;

(b)       £398,533,000 Gross Revenue Income being the estimated aggregate income of the Council for the items set out in section 31A (3) of the Act;

(c)       £134,176,400 Net Revenue Expenditure being the amount by which the aggregate at (i) above exceeds the aggregate at (ii) above, calculated in accordance with Section 31A (4) of the Act, as the Council’s Council Tax Requirement for the year. (Item R in the formula in section 31A (4) of the Act);

(d)       £2,223.18 Reading Borough Council band D Council Tax being the amount at (iii) above (Item R) divided by the Council’s tax base 60,353.38 (Item T) calculated in accordance with Section 31B (1) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year, representing an increase of 4.99% in the Council’s own tax;

(2)       That the net tax base of 60,353.38 band D equivalent properties (being the gross tax base adjusted for an assumed collection rate) for 2026/27 as agreed by Council on 27 January 2026 be noted;

(3)       That it be noted that the band D Council Tax for Reading Borough Council was £2,223.18 as shown in Table 2 of the report;

(4)       That it be noted that, including the Fire and Police authority precepts; the Overall Council Tax by property valuation band was as set out in Table 3 of the report.