How council tax is calculated

Government legislation requires Hampshire County Council’s total council tax to be split into two separate lines on council tax bills: 

  • most is shown on the main 'Hampshire County Council' line
  • however, we are required to show the council tax which is dedicated to funding adult social care pressures on a separate line, called the 'Adult social care precept'

The council tax increase for the County Council is calculated using our total amount of council tax (i.e. the main 'Hampshire County Council' line plus the 'Adult social care precept' line).

The worked example below sets out the calculations. The amounts used in the example are for a Band D property.

Hampshire County Council’s total 2023/24 council tax = £1,460.25

£1,460.25 is the sum of the main County Council line (£1,268.53) plus the adult social care precept line (£191.72)

Plus: Increase for all County Council services = £43.79 (£1,460.25 x 2.999%)

Plus: Increase specifically for adult social care = £29.20 (£1,460.25 x 2%)

Equals: Hampshire County Council’s total 2024/25 council tax = £1,533.24

This is broken into two lines on bills. £220.92 is shown on the adult social care precept line, with the remainder (£1,312.32) shown on the main County Council line.

Hampshire County Council’s council tax has increased this year by 4.999%. Funding for adult social care pressures accounts for 2% of this. The remaining 2.999% is being used to help fund all of the services the County Council provides.

Percentage increases are stated on council tax bills to one decimal place, so the 2.999% is shown on them as 3.0%. The actual cash amounts on bills are calculated more precisely. The example above gives the percentage increase in more detail to 2.999% in order to help explain why the adult social care increase is not exactly two thirds the amount of the increase for all services.

The presentation on council tax bills, including how the percentage increases are shown, is required by Government legislation and is being used throughout England. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is responsible for the legislation. Hampshire County Council, along with many other councils, has raised concerns with the Department that the legislation results in bills which are not as clear as we would like them to be. It would be preferable to just show one total amount on bills for Hampshire County Council, especially as a large amount of all our council tax revenue is used to fund social care, but unfortunately the legislation does not permit us to do this.