Commons Levy set for 2023/24
Wimbledon and Putney Commons – Levy for 2023/2024
A founding principle of the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act of 1871 is that the Commons are principally financed by a dedicated levy on residential properties that “primarily benefit” from the Commons, defined by the 1871 Act as all those within three-quarters of a mile of Wimbledon Common (including Putney Heath) or within the Parish of Putney as it existed in 1871.
The levy area extends across three local authorities (Wandsworth, Merton and Kingston) to whom responsibility for billing and collecting the levy was transferred in 1990 from WPCC. The levy appears as a separate charge on the annual council tax statements of the relevant properties. Secondary legislation that was introduced when these arrangements were put in place in 1990 established a limit for the aggregate levy, adjusted annually to reflect inflation as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI) in the previous September.
Despite the decision taken by the Board in December 2020 to set the levy at the maximum level permitted for the following five-year period, the Conservators felt that it was important to review this decision given the recent significant increase in RPI.
Consideration was given to the current rise in the cost of living and the potential impact on levy-payers and the Board also noted the reassurance that they had received from the local authorities that any benefits and reductions to which residents were entitled for council tax purposes would also apply to the levy.
Chairman, DIane Neil Mills commented "Under the 1871 Act, the Conservators have a constitutional duty to protect and preserve the Commons and to make the Commons available for the purposes of recreation and exercise and the cost of meeting these duties has been subject to increasing inflationary pressures. In addition to the pressures on the operating budget, there are significant essential capital works on the horizon, which will involve substantial unbudgeted expenditure".
In light of this, at its 12 December 2022 meeting, the Board concluded that it would be neither prudent nor in the best interests of the charity to propose an increase in the levy that was below the maximum permitted under the 1990 Regulations. The Board therefore set the aggregate levy for 2023/24 at £1,490,566, an increase of 12.64% reflecting RPI for the year to September 2022 and generating an additional £167,238 to support the work of the charity.
In terms of the impact on households, the RPI increase for 2023/24 represents an additional payment of 32 pence per month for a ‘Band D' property.
Further information on the Commons' Levy can be found here: The Commons Levy