How your Council Tax is spent
The amount of Council Tax you pay will depend on:
- the Council Tax band for your property
- whether you are entitled to any reductions, discounts or exemptions on the full bill
Council Tax helps to fund local services, such as social care for vulnerable people and support for children, young adults and elderly people.
The Council Tax for 2026/27 was set at a Council meeting on 26 February 2026.
Different parts of the Council Tax demand
As a billing authority, West Northamptonshire will send out Council Tax demands and collect Council Tax on behalf of themselves and also other precepting authorities that are entitled to collect Council Tax in the area.
These other authorities are the:
- Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire (who sets one council tax precept for the Police service and another council tax precept for the Fire service)
- various town and parish councils within West Northamptonshire Council’s boundaries
The lines that you might see on your Council Tax demand are as follows:
West Northamptonshire Council
This is the main element of West Northamptonshire Council’s Council Tax and is used to fund the services run by West Northamptonshire Council.
This element also includes an additional amount specifically to support adult social care. This is no longer shown as a separate line on your bill.
Various parish councils
The name of the town or parish council will vary depending on which area you live in. But this element is set by your local town or parish council and is used to fund the services that they provide.
Special Expenses
This is another element of West Northamptonshire Council’s Council Tax. Most of the Council’s Council Tax is evenly distributed across all areas. However, special expenses allow some specific costs to be distributed according to where the services are provided.
West Northamptonshire Council charges special expenses for the maintenance of its smaller parks and open spaces, as some Parish Councils also maintain parks and open spaces, and pass this cost on to their local taxpayers through their own precept.
Because the smaller parks and open spaces in the Northampton area are not evenly distributed, the special expense charge (unlike the main Council Tax element) differs across the parish areas of Northampton.
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner - Police
This is the element set by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for providing the Police service.
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner - Fire
This is the element set by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for providing the Fire service.
How the charges are calculated
We are required by law to set a balanced budget. This budget includes all the expected costs of running our services for the year, and all the income we receive from grants and fees and charges. The remaining amount is our Council Tax requirement, and Council Tax is set to raise this amount.
The budget was set at a Council meeting on 26 February 2026.
The regulations around council tax allow us to increase our main Council Tax by up to 5% without holding a referendum. This 5% applies to the average council tax across the area including special expenses.
Calculating the West Northamptonshire Council Tax increase
For a Band D property this is:
£1,953.88 + £5.52 = £1,959.40
For 2026/27 the Council has chosen to increase the main element of Council Tax by 2.95% and to charge an additional 2% precept to fund increased costs for providing Adult Social Care (ASC) services. This element is now shown as a single line in council tax bills.
This table below shows how Council Tax is broken down for a Band D property:
| Amount/increase | Price (£) |
|---|---|
| Total amount due to WNC Band D 2025/26 | 1,866.98 |
| Increase in WNC Council Tax (4.95%) | 92.42 |
| Total WNC Band D Council Tax for 2026/27 | 1,959.40 |
However, the specific amounts of tax that people pay will differ from these averages for a number of reasons:
- special expenses will be different in different areas according to parks and open spaces that are funded through the West Northamptonshire Council special expense in each area
- all the above figures are for a band D property – individual council tax demands will be higher or lower if you are in a higher or lower rated property
Where the money will be spent
| Area | Amount | Percentage of total |
|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £164.2m | 35% |
| Northamptonshire Children’s Trust | £105.6m | 23% |
| Place and Economy | £94.9m | 20% |
| Resources | £39.5m | 9% |
| Centrally controlled and technical budgets | £37.2m | 8% |
| Communities and opportunities | £13.6m | 3% |
| Education services | £9.3m | 2% |
Where our money comes from
In 2026/27 West Northamptonshire Council will receive approximately £464.3 million (excluding Dedicated Schools Grant of £560.1million) to deliver the day-to-day running of your services.
The money from your Council Tax makes up around two-thirds of this total income, with the remainder coming from sources including government grants and part of the national business rates.
Information on the other authorities
Last updated 30 March 2026