Bolton council is informing residents of changes to the council tax support scheme which will take effect from April 2017.
In February 2016, the council approved changes to the scheme, which mean that all working age people will see a reduction in the level of council tax support they receive.
These changes mean that all working age claimants will need to pay at least 12.5 per cent of their council tax bill.
Claimants who currently do not pay any of their council tax bill will have to pay at least 12.5 per cent, whilst those who pay some council tax will be likely to have to pay more, depending on their circumstances and income. Any residents who have savings or capital of £3000 or more will not be eligible for council tax support.
The changes to the scheme will affect around 17,000 households. Of these, around 12,000 households who are currently on full council tax support will have to pay 12.5% of their council tax from April. The other 5,000 who already pay some of their council tax and will have to pay more than they do now.
All claimants affected will receive a letter by the end of January, asking them to visit the council website for more information and to complete a form on how they would like to pay. They can complete the form on the council’s website or call 01204 331599.
Councillor Cliff Morris, Leader of Bolton Council said: “Unfortunately, the council must continue to make savings year on year and as part of this we have had to re-examine our council tax support scheme. We were originally due to introduce these changes in 2016, but delayed it by a year to allow residents to prepare for this.
We appreciate that these changes to the council tax support scheme will cause concern to some residents and we will be providing them with as much information and support as possible.”
For more information on the changes, residents can visit http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/Counciltaxsupport.aspx
To complete the form, residents can visit www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Payingyourcounciltax.aspx