£77,000 unpaid council and business tax written off in Stafford
Council bosses in Stafford have agreed to write off £77,000 in unpaid council and business tax as bills are set to rise again for residents.
The borough council has given up on £55,000 it was owed in business rates and a further £22,000 in council tax after attempts to collect the cash were unsuccessful.
The money would have gone towards funding services in the borough but has escaped the clutches of the authority.
However bosses say the lost cash represents less than half a per cent of the tax owed to the council.
Authorities can choose to write off tax owed if there is no realistic way of recouping it or if it is costing too much to chase.
A new report revealed the £55,000 owed in business rates relates to three separate cases.
Leaders have pledged to re-open the cases if more details come to light.
Lost business rates are often the result of firms going bust and Stafford councillor Jonathan Price believes the law should be changed to stop local authorities losing out.
He said: “This is a bone of contention with councillors. Unfortunately, you get companies which go into liquidation or receivership and no-one can get the money back.
"I would like to see a law where directors of companies are personally responsible for paying the rates.”
Stafford borough council spokesman Will Conaghan said: “This is a small proportion of the total amount we collect - but it does not mean that debt is lost forever because if further information came to light about the debtor then we would pursue recovering it.
“We have exhausted the normal course of action and tried to trace the debtors through various systems.”
Council tax bills are set to increase from next year.
The county council has announced a planned three per cent rise from April.
