Parish precept meetings delayed

Parish councils across Maidstone will be forced to hold an extra meeting this month because the borough council is late in determining its council tax base for the coming financial year, starting in April.

The borough usually finalises its figures in December and these are used by the parishes to calculate the level of precept they need to cover their expenses in January. The precepts are included in taxpayers’ bills.

Maidstone council is not expected to confirm its figures until a meeting of its policy and resources committee on Wednesday, January 18, which falls after the date of most parish councils’ monthly meetings.

Because the borough will still require the parishes to submit their council tax requests by February 1, many parish councils will be obliged to call an extraordinary meeting after January 18 to make their rulings.

In neighbouring boroughs, Tunbridge Wells council and Tonbridge and Malling council both were able to determine their tax bases in early December.