Over £5.5 million in council tax unpaid last year for Rotherham Council
£4,829,000 unpaid council tax was reported for 2023/24.
Official national reports have shown that over £5.5 million of council tax was unpaid in Rotherham for the 2025/26 financial year.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) £5,586,000 of unpaid council tax for the 2025/26 financial year.
For the year, a total of £165,908,000 was paid to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.
This presents a year-on-year shortfall, with the council reporting £4,978,000 in unpaid council tax for 2024/25.
£4,829,000 unpaid council tax was reported for 2023/24.
Council tax funds services including rubbish collection, street lighting, community centres and libraries, parks and recreation facilities, care services and more.
These figures follow the three per cent council tax increase for residents for the 2025/26 financial year, particularly in order to manage the rising demand for adult and children’s social care.
Many across the borough and country are still being affected by the cost of living crisis, which has caused rising prices of food, housing and more.
Rotherham Council have said the outstanding £5.5m does not represent financial pressure for the council, having anticipated unpaid council tax.
Judith Badger, executive director of corporate service, said: “As of 1 June 2026, 97.19% of council tax relating to the 2025/26 financial year had been collected. The council continues to recover outstanding amounts after the end of the financial year and collection rates for each year typically increase to around 99% over time.
“During 2025/26, the council obtained 8,712 liability orders relating to council tax debt from both the 2025/26 financial year and previous years. It also referred 4,565 cases relating to 2025/26 council tax debt to enforcement agents.”
She confirmed that £82,900 of outstanding council tax has been written off as unrecoverable.