How Council Tax is calculated

The total amount of council tax you pay is made up of charges for services from three organisations: Portsmouth City Council, the police and Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service.

The money going to the council is split into two areas:

• money specifically to fund adult social care.
• money for general services that can be used for anything the council does

You may have different charges based on your property’s band. For example, if you live in a band B property (the most common property type in Portsmouth) for 2020/21 the charges shown on your council tax bill are:

• Portsmouth City Council (General Services): £1030.77
• Adult Social Care: £98.87
• Hampshire Fire & Rescue: £53.71
• Police & Crime Commissioner for Hampshire: £164.47The total charge for a band B property in 2020/21 is £1347.82

The information on your bill may look complicated. This is because we have to present it according to government rules. Here is an explanation to help you understand this year’s council tax charges:

• The total increase for council tax paid to the council (both adult social care and general services) is 4.0%. That breaks down to 1.99%, displayed to one decimal point as 2.0% for general services and 2.0% for adult social care.
• Last year Portsmouth’s charge for general services and adult social care totalled £1,086.31 for a band B property.
• The general services charge has gone up by £21.61. This is a 1.99% increase on last year. The amount has changed from £1009.16 to £1030.77.
• The adult social care charge has gone up by £21.72. This is a 2% increase on last year. The adult social care charge has changed from £77.15 to  £98.87.You can see details of all the increases in the council tax bands 2020/21 document.

Please note percentage increases are rounded up to one decimal point, as shown on your bill.

External links

Police & Crime Commissioner

Hampshire Fire & Rescue