1. Home
  2. Council Tax and Benefits
  3. What does my Council Tax pay for?

What does my Council Tax pay for?

We understand that Council Tax is a large portion of your monthly outgoings, so we want to share openly how we are spending your contributions.

This year, you will continue to have access to a wide range of services, while benefitting from the lowest Council Tax in West Sussex.

In common with other councils, reductions in funding from central Government have left us with less money to spend. In spite of this, residents of Horsham District are still able to benefit from a wide range of services for as little as £2.88 a week per Band D household – that’s only 8p a week more than last year.

For more information about what your Council Tax pays for, read our Council Tax 2019/20 leaflet or watch our video below.

Read the leaflet

Where do we get our money?

Although Horsham District Council collects all your Council Tax, we only retain 8%. The rest is collected on behalf of:

Council Tax makes up 27% of our overall income. The other funding is made up from Government grants (6%), fees and charges for our services (55%), and investment properties (12%).

Where do we spend it?

In 2019/20, we will receive £9.3million in Council Tax to provide local services and facilities.

So every week you can enjoy:

  • clean streets
  • an efficient waste and recycling service
  • award-winning parks and open spaces
  • art and culture at The Capitol and district-wide events
  • a treasure trove of artefacts and exhibitions at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery
  • sports and leisure facilities
  • safe food in licenced outlets
  • free and fair elections
  • help to build an extension
  • a vibrant local economy with the right developments

And if you need it, we also help to:

  • house you
  • pay your rent
  • reduce your Council Tax.

What we delivered in 2018/19

Below are just some of the broad range of services we have delivered during 2018/19 for our residents, visitors and local businesses:

  • The Bridge, a brand new £12.3 million sports and leisure centre in Broadbridge Heath opened to the public in October 2018. We own four sports and leisure centres across Horsham District, ensuring that no-one is more than around a 15 minute drive from a swimming pool.
  • In 2018/19 the Council prevented 200 households from becoming homeless.
  • We look after 60 children’s play areas and over 400 hectares of parks and open spaces.
  • Changes to our waste collection service contributed significantly to us having one of the highest recycling rates in the South East and exceeding the national 50% recycling target.
  • We have used Section 106 developer contributions to build 17 short stay temporary units for homeless households, with more planned.
  • 249 affordable homes were made available for district residents – the highest number in West Sussex.
  • 120 local businesses have been supported by our Economic Development team with advice on issues such as premises, funding and apprenticeships.
  • We handle over 4,000 enquiries a year at our Visitor Information Centre.
  • We receive more than 3,000 planning enquiries a year, of which over 2,500 are planning applications.
  • Our Health and Wellbeing team supported 930 clients throughout the year