Most Berkshire councils are falling behind on their tax collection targets. The cost of living crisis is believed to be a key factor.
One finance director spoke about this recently, stating that all Berkshire councils are behind. They’re struggling to reach their tax collection goals, and he thinks this is due to the cost of living issues.
Slough Council is missing almost a million pounds. They wanted 63.8% collected by last December but only got about 62.84%; that small difference represents a lot of money.
Other Berkshire areas are also struggling; West Berkshire is down by just a bit but still performs well compared to other areas. They think both the cost of living and COVID recovery play a part, and they are searching for ways to improve.
Reading Council also reported a similar decrease. They’re down by 0.31% compared to last year, linking this to the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Bracknell Forest is off by 0.6% from last year, which equals over six hundred thousand pounds. Still, they collected more money overall because of tax base and rate increases.
Windsor and Maidenhead are also behind; by October, they were down 1.25% from the year before. Wokingham is on target right now, but they worry the crisis will impact the rest of the year.