RATES

Ards Rate Rise Under 1% For 2011-2012

The Council has restricted its rate rise for 2011-2012 to under 1%.

Striking the lowest rate rise in 14 years, the Council agreed at a meeting on 8 February to increase the domestic rate by 0.96%, the equivalent of 33p a month extra on the district rate for an average ratepayer in Ards.

Proposing the new rate, Mayor of Ards, Councillor David Smyth, said:

"The recession bites deeper, public sector spending is under ever-increasing scrutiny, and local people look to us, their local representatives, to deliver that elusive balance between cost and quality which leads to value for money services. That's why we have once again sought to keep any increase on the district rate to an absolute minimum. This is no easy task when we have cuts in grants, additional costs beyond our control to absorb and when our ability to generate income is affected by the current economic climate," he said. "Sound financial management, together with a prudent use of capital reserves to fund specific schemes means we will maintain and, where possible, enhance our services, while also progressing a range of capital projects to benefit communities right across the Ards. I am content that we have agreed a very reasonable rate rise, the lowest increase in 14 years and one which is well below the rate of inflation".

The non-domestic rate rises by 0.95%.

How our net budget of £18.2 Million will be spent in the financial year 2011/12 is illustrated below:

Recreation & Sport: £3,857,693 (21.2%)

Culture & Heritage: £383,401 (2.1%)

Tourism: £1,303,867 (7.2%)

Community Services: £565,294 (3.1%)

Cemeteries: £169,125 (0.9%)

Environmental Health: £877,777 (4.8%)

Public Conveniences: £440,893 (2.4%)

Licensing: £56,803 (0.3%)

Other Cleaning: £1,074,783 (5.9%)

Waste Collection: £2,553,975 (14.0%)

Waste Disposal: £3,458,767 (19.0%)

Building control: £196,180 (1.1%)

Minor Works: £295,643 (1.6%)

Trading Services: £377,566 (2.1%)

Economic Development: £517,618 (2.8%)

Democratic Representation and Management: £992,236 (5.4%)

Corporate Management: £938,835 (5.2%)

Central Services to the Public: £394,289 (2.2%)

Non-distributed Costs: £207,352 (1.1%)

Bank Interest & Investment Income: -£435,500 (-2.4%)

Notes: Community Services includes community centres, community festivals and good relations; Licensing includes petroleum, street trading, entertainment licences; Other Cleaning includes street cleaning, beach cleaning, litter control; Minor Works includes property maintenance, bus shelters, Christmas lighting; Trading Services includes harbours, Conway Square market; Democratic Representation & Management includes council meetings, staff costs (e.g. strategic planning, equality, freedom of information), members' expenses, Mayor's allowance; Corporate Management includes chief executive's office, public relations, performance management, area plan, bank interest, pension contributions; Central Services to the Public includes registration (births, deaths and marriages), election expenses, community safety, District Policing Partnership, contributions to other bodies, anti-social behaviour team.

Rating The Changes?

So when that bill lands on your doorstep, how do you rate the changes? District rates, regional rates, capital values…here's a simple guide to rates in Northern Ireland.

The Government is responsible for setting the Regional Rate - to fund services delivered centrally, such as roads, education, health and personal social services. In 2011-2012, the regional rate is to rise by the rate of inflation, which stood at 3.7%.

The Council is responsible for setting the District Rate - to fund services delivered locally, like bin collections, leisure centres, recycling facilities, building control and environmental health. As explained above, this year the Council agreed a rate increase of 0.96%.

The Regional Rate and District Rate are combined to make up your overall rates bill.

The Regional Rate accounts for approximately 52% of your bill, while the District Rate makes up the remaining 48%.

BUT

Remeber that the system used to calculate you final bill was changed by the Government. Now the rates you pay are based on the value of your home (as determined on 1 January 2005) - in other words, the higher your capital value, the higher your rates.

Rates Payable on Empty Properties
From 1 October 2011, domestic owners of empty homes and landlords of empty properties will pay rates on their properties.

More information for domestic property owners is available here.

Landlords who own two or more properties can apply to Land & Property Services to have their properties managed under one account. More specific information for landlords is available here.

Make the change to Direct Debit for your rates
On 4th April 2011 rate bills will arrive at thousands of households across Northern Ireland. To make paying this bill as easy as possible ratepayers are being encouraged to pay their rates by Direct Debit.

Currently 310,000 ratepayers pay by Direct Debit but Land & Property Services (LPS) wish to encourage more customers to avail of the many benefits Direct Debit has to offer. To do this a campaign will launch in March to promote these benefits to ratepayers across Northern Ireland. In this campaign ratepayers who pay in one single payment and those who prefer to spread the cost with instalments will be targeted.

For those customers that pay their rates in one single payment, Direct Debit means that they will be able take advantage of the 4% discount. Customers who wish to pay their bill in one payment have until 4.30pm Friday 6th May to call LPS and set up their Direct Debit and still be guaranteed the 4% discount.

Customers that do not use Direct Debit must ensure payment is made at least 5 working days before the 6th May 2011 to be guaranteed the discount.

Another benefit is that once your Direct Debit is established it will roll on every year. This offers peace of mind as your payment will come out of your bank account automatically when it is due. There are no worries about missed payments and no need to write cheques or carry cash to pay your bill.

For customers that prefer instalments they will benefit from being able to spread the cost of their bill over 10 months. In addition to the benefits of the safe and secure payment method and the peace of mind that Direct Debit offer, LPS also provides flexible payment dates for their customers, 7th, 15th or 28th of the month.

If you are a ratepayer, and don't currently pay by Direct Debit simply call LPS on 101 or for outside NI, dial 02891 513101 and staff can have your account set up in a few minutes. You can also download a Direct Debit form at www.nidirect.gov.uk/rates or fill in the Direct Debit form included with your bill and return to LPS by freepost.

If you would like to know more about the rating system in Northern Ireland, contact the Eastern Office, Land and Property Services (formerly Rate Collection Agency), Londonderry House, 21-27 Chichester Street, Belfast, BT1 4JB, Tel: 0845 300 6360, Fax: 028 9025 2724, E: eastern.rating@lpsni.gov.uk , W: www.lpsni.gov.uk .