Stafford Borough Council writes off £60,000 in unrecoverable business rates
Cabinet members tackle outstanding debts
Stafford Borough Council has decided to write off nearly £60,000 in irrecoverable business rates following a cabinet meeting held on 18th June.
Cabinet members agreed to write off two debts that totalled £59,991.41. Additionally, they resolved to dismiss a £10,439.43 housing benefit overpayment deemed irrecoverable.
Councillor Ralph Cooke, cabinet member for resources, shared insights into the area's fiscal activity, highlighting overall progress in the recovery of housing benefit overpayments.
He explained that around £443,000 had been recovered within the current financial year, 2025/26.
He also mentioned that the council tax due for the year amounted to £11.6 million, with 97.7% collected by the end of March.
"There was a marginal drop of 0.1% compared to last year’s collection rate of 97.8%." Councillor Cooke said.
Business rates for the financial year reached £59.6 million with a collection success of 98%.
Compared to last year's 98.6% collection rate, this reflects a slight decline.
"This is not entirely unexpected," Councillor Cooke said, noting that the department had warned of challenging conditions throughout the year due to increased rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors after a reduction in Government relief from 75% to 40%.
Moreover, £174,000 worth of uncollected rates linked to town centre properties could not be processed due to pending Valuation Office actions.
Had these properties been removed from the rating list by 31st March, the collection rate could have improved to 98.3%, he added.