WEST Oxfordshire residents will pay more than two-thirds less in council tax to their district council than people living in Oxford pay to its city council. 

Those in West Oxfordshire living in Band D properties will pay £99.38 to their district council from April. 

Oxford Mail: West Oxfordshire District Council's headquarters in Witney West Oxfordshire District Council's headquarters in Witney

West Oxfordshire District Council's headquarters in Witney 

But Oxford City residents living in equivalent Band D properties will pay £307.80 in unparished areas, an increase of 2.99 per cent – or £8.94 – from the current financial year.  

All residents will need to pay council tax to Oxfordshire County Council and to the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner. 

They will pay £1,468.83 to the county council and £206.28 if they live in Band D properties – a total of £1,675.11 for those two services alone.

Everyone must pay council tax if they rent a home or own it.

A council tax bill is based on at least two adults at home – but you get 25 per cent off your bill if you live on your own. 

If you live in Cherwell district in a Band D property, you will pay your district council £128.50, an increase of £5 from 2018/19. That change still needs to be formally agreed at a council meeting next Monday but is likely to be a formality. 

Oxford Mail:

The leader of Cherwell District Council, Barry Wood 

If you live in South Oxfordshire in a Band D property, your district council will receive £121.24, an increase of £5 from 2018/19. 

While if you live in Vale of White Horse district, your district council last week voted to increase your council tax by £5 – to £131.69. 

So, overall, the charges for Band D residents in Oxfordshire vary significantly. 
If you live in West Oxfordshire, you will pay £1,774.50. 

If you live in Oxford in an unparished area, you will pay £1,982.91.

Charges across Oxfordshire in parished areas – in Littlemore, Old Marston, Risinghurst and Sandhills and Blackbird Leys, your payment over the year will be slightly more.

Oxford Mail:

Blackbird Leys

Vale of White Horse district residents living in Band D properties will pay £1,806.80. 

If you live in South Oxfordshire, your charge will be £1,796.35.

And if you live in Cherwell, your charge will be slightly, more – £1,803.61.

For many in Oxford, they will find they do not need to pay their council tax.

If a home is entirely occupied by student, then that is exempt from any charges. 

Also, the parishes across Oxford have contributed their own charges – for their own parish councils, normally. 

That means that if you live in Littlemore, Old Marston, Risinghurst and Sandhills and Blackbird Leys, you will have to pay up a bit extra. 

Parish councils’ rates will increase by an average of 3.21 per cent from 2018/19 to 2019/20. 

They are not capped like city, district and county councils are. 

That means Littlemore residents will face a council tax bill from the city council of £348.68. 

A parish – and city – councillor resigned his post as a result of the charge. 


David Henwood had been a parish councillor for 13 years but resigned citing the ‘disgusting’ increase.

Oxford Mail:

David Henwood

He said increasing the charge on residents by £4.05 – by 8.1 per cent or seven pence more a week – was one of ‘the worst decisions the parish council has ever made’.

His former council charge is £8.19 more than residents in Old Marston, where the charge there is £340.49. 

The cheapest charge for parished areas is in Blackbird Leys, where residents will get charged £310.35 from April.

Nigel Kennedy, the head of financial services at the city council, said: “The parish sets their budget and sends us their precept demand for the year in question. 

“This is the cost of providing whatever services that parish has decided to supply direct to their residents. The precept is divided by the tax base (the number of dwellings in the parish adjusted for exemptions and discounts) to come up with the parish Band D council tax figure.”

Last year, the city council increased their council tax charge by 2.99 per cent; the county council increased its charge by 5.99 per cent for 2018/19 from 2017/18. 

In forthcoming years, the county council said it is hoping to increase council tax by just 1.99 per cent.

Last week, the council leader Ian Hudspeth said he did not believe in hiking taxes unnecessarily and that increased money was required to keep services running.

He said: “The county council is working to ensure Oxfordshire’s economy continues to thrive in the future.”