The Press and Journal reports today that Aberdeenshire Council is owed more than £31m in unpaid council taxes.
The paper says that new figures show Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland councils are attempting to recoup a total of £130m in unpaid taxes. The arrears mean some public services face cutbacks.
The outstanding balance for Highland Council has increased from just above £30m at the end of the 2013-14 financial year to more than £32m at the end of the 2015-16 period. Moray Council is chasing £13.5m, while Aberdeen is owed almost £52m and people in Aberdeenshire are £31m in arrears. However, the newspaper reports that both Aberdeenshire and Moray councils have confirmed that they have a council tax collection rate of around 96%.
To put that in a context, the £31m is almost twice the budget for the planned flood prevention scheme in Stonehaven. Or build three primary schools.
However Aberdeenshire Council officers tell me that the report does not give a full picture. Of the total amount billed for all tax years ranging from 2016/17 back to 1993/94 less the total amount paid for the same years, the council has collected 98.80%.
So the balance outstanding represents 1.2% of the total amount billed, a very good collection rate. All of these factors need to be taken into consideration when looking at the total amount due as the above gives a completely different meaning when looking at all of the facts instead of looking at one figure in isolation.
The council continues to collect all amounts outstanding using all avenues available taking into consideration different customer profiles ranging from vulnerable customers who cannot afford high repayments to those customers who can pay but won’t pay.
