Shinfield Parish Council Precept & Budget

What is a Precept?

The Precept is a tax that Shinfield Parish Council charge their local electors to meet their budgetary requirements. 

Shinfield Parish Council does not receive any direct funding from central government and relies on the Precept, plus any other income we generate from services or facilities we provide.

Shinfield Parish Council Precept forms part of the Council Tax that is collected by Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) who then pay over the Precept to us. 

Shinfield Parish Council is required by law to agree its budget before we can set the Precept.

How is it Calculated?

The Precept requirement is the difference between Shinfield Parish Council’s estimated income and our anticipated spending requirements for the financial year (budget). The financial year runs from 1st April to 31st March.

Shinfield Parish Council budget and Precept must be agreed by the Full Council Committee which all Councillors are duty bound to attend (usually this is done in January). Once Shinfield Parish Council has forecast its budget requirements for the following financial year, it requests this funding from WBC in the form of the Precept.

WBC then converts the Precept into an amount per Council Tax payer that is added to the Council Tax bill (according to the property band) for all the dwellings within the Parish area.

When calculating the Precept, Shinfield Parish Council takes into consideration our current year’s spending levels – for ongoing services for which it is responsible and these include:-

• Buildings running costs – School Green Centre, Spencers Wood Pavilion, Manor Ground Pavilion, Ryeish Green Pavilion
• Recreation grounds, play equipment and maintenance – Spencers Wood Recreation Ground, Millworth Lane, Manor Ground, Deardon Orchard and Kendall Ave
• Parish Maintenance – keeping our parish safe, clean and tidy
• Staffing costs and insurance
• Contractors’ and suppliers charges
• Costs for plans or projects
• Provision for contingencies and reserves
• Levels of anticipated income – from services for which it is responsible e.g. rental income from buildings/hall hire and allotment fees

Once a Precept has been approved by Shinfield Parish Council, we inform WBC and it is then added to residents Council Tax bills. WBC pay the Precept to the Parish Council in two instalments (April and September).

The Tax Base

The Tax Base is produced from the Council Tax system by WBC which gives a listing of all the properties in each town or parish in the borough.  It then adjusts this to take into account any discounts that are given, for example, single occupancy, second homes or homes that are empty or exempt.

The Precept for Shinfield is about 4.5% of a Band D equivalent Council Tax bill.

The properties are then translated into Band D equivalents using the following ratios:

Band A       6/9

Band B       7/9

Band C       8/9

Band D       9/9 (base line)

Band E       11/9

Band F       13/9

Band G       15/9

Band H       18/9

For example Band A is six-ninths of Band D and Band H is twice Band D.

Finally, the estimated number of Band D equivalents to be built in the year are added to the list.  This then gives the total number of Band D equivalent properties to use for the Tax Base. The Tax Base is used to calculate the Band D charge for each town or parish which is done by dividing the total Precept requirement by the Tax Base.  This figure will be compared with the previous year’s Band D charge and supplied to the Parish.

There are a number of reasons why the Tax Base changes.

It can go up if more homes are created but can go down due to more properties in the town or parish claiming for discounts – most commonly an increase in the number of properties claiming the single occupancy discount. Other factors will include homes being demolished, becoming empty, becoming second homes, boundary changes or even a change in collection date.