Taxpayers to pay £145m to Shropshire Council this year

The authority is predicting it will receive more than £560m in revenue income in total between April this year and March next year.

It will also receive about £53m in capital income over the next year, according to an income report set to go to the council's audit committee next week.

The majority of the council's revenue income will come from collecting council tax, business rates, and a number of different grants and contributions.

While the capital income will come from mainly government grants, proceeds from the sale of assets such as land and buildings and borrowing which is self-financed by the authority.

The report says there are risks associated with collecting council tax, and estimates that the collection rate will drop this financial year compared to 2017/18.

Debt

It says: "Since council tax income is accounted for at the point of issuing a bill or invoice there is a risk of bad debts accruing if bills are not paid.

"This results in a cost to the authority later on when the debt is written off.

"The collection rate for 2017/18 is estimated to be 98.4 per cent and is estimated to be 97.8 per cent for 2018/19.

"These levels are good in comparison to most authorities.

"Collection rates can be impacted adversely by changes in charging policy such as the recent changes to the council tax reduction scheme however this is outweighed by the total new tax generated."

The authority is also estimating it will collect £40m in business rates this financial year, and make £11.4m from proceeds from the sale of assets such as land and buildings.

The news comes after a six per cent increase in council tax was approved by Shropshire Council for this financial year in February.

The rise - which follows last year's 3.99 per cent increase - is an attempt to help the authority cope with pressure on its adult social care and children's social services budget.

The information in the report will be considered by the audit committee on Thursday.