Residents of Cornwall have been urged to check their council tax bills after a sleuthing Cornwall Councillor identified residents had been registered as living in the wrong parish – and were subsequently paying too much council tax!
St Issey and St Tudy Conservative Councillor Steven Rushworth uncovered the error, which saw residents of St Breock Parish wrongly registered in Wadebridge.
He is now urging residents across Cornwall to examine their council tax bills to ensure they are correctly registered.
Cllr Rushworth said:
“People who live in larger towns often pay more council tax than those who live in rural parishes because precepts for larger town councils are higher to pay for more devolved services.”
“After residents asked me why they weren’t able to vote for candidates in the Wadebridge Division while paying the Wadebridge town council precept. After some detective work I identified that they had been erroneously marked as paying council tax in Wadebridge despite not living there and as such were entitled to a refund going back over several years!”
“An honest mistake by Cornwall Council and thanks to the officers for putting it right, but given that this went on unnoticed for so long, I urge residents across Cornwall to carefully check your council tax bills in case you have experienced a similar error.”
