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  3. What does my Council Tax pay for?

What does my Council Tax pay for?

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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.

Residents of Horsham District benefit from a wide range of services for as little as £2.93 a week per Band D household – that’s only 5p a week more than last year.

View Council Tax charges for Horsham District

How is my Council Tax shared out?

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

How is my Council Tax spent?

Over 142,000 people live in Horsham District, making us the third largest local authority in West Sussex. Here are some of our key services that your Council Tax helps to pay for:

  • We sweep over 1,600 miles of streets
  • We award £71,000 in grants to help small businesses thrive
  • We look after nearly 60 children's play areas and over 400 hectares of open spaces and countryside
  • We provide over 4,500 sporting activities each year to community groups
  • We have prevented almost 200 households from becoming homeless in the 2019/20
  • We carry out over 3.6million recycling and waste collections

View Council Tax charges and financial information

Our 2020/21 budget

Your Council Tax makes up 24% of Horsham District Council's income, and contributes towards our budget for 2020/21. The other funding is made up from Central government and other grants and contributions (12%); New Home Bonus (12%); Fees and charges (39%); and investments and investment properties (13%).

Our total budget for 2020/21 is £41.2 million. Here's how it will be spent:

  • Waste, recycling and environmental services: £8.6million (21%)
  • Planning, Property, Building Control, Economic Development: £6.6million (16%)
  • Community, arts and leisure: £5million (12%)
  • Revenues and benefits, housing and community services: £4.4million (11%)
  • Parking: £2.2million (5%)
  • Supporting front-line services: £8.8million (21%)
  • Implementing new digital technology: 0.8million (2%)
  • New Homes Bonus used for income generation and infrastructure: £4.8million (12%)