Council Tax bill explained

Your Council Tax bill includes information such as:

• Council Tax account number
• property band
• a breakdown of what the Council Tax is used for
• any applicable discounts, reductions or exemptions
• any outstanding amount at the time the bill was created.

Your Council Tax bill for 2024-25

Most of the Council Tax is used for the services provided by Bury Council. There are also three extra parts of the Council Tax called precepts. These are smaller amounts where the money collected is used for a specific purpose.

Bury Council general element

The general element of the Council Tax is noted as ‘Bury Council’ on your bill. It is used to pay for services we provide, including:

• Schools
• Social services for adults and children
• Bin collection
• Street cleaning
• Leisure services
• Parks
• Parking.

The Government sets a limit for how much the general element of Council Tax can increase each year. When a council wants to exceed the Government limit, a local referendum must be held before an increase to the general element can be introduced.

Adult Social Care Precept

This portion of the Council Tax is set by Bury Council, and the money collected is used for the provision of social care for adults in the borough.

The Government introduced this precept in April 2016 to allow councils to increase Council Tax to support their adult social care service provision, without needing to hold a local referendum. The Government reviews this precept every year, limiting how much extra revenue councils can raise. The limit is a percentage of Council Tax charged by a council in the previous year.

When a precept has been set, this portion of Council Tax must also be allocated to adult social care in future years.

Increases to the Bury Council parts of the Council Tax

The decision to set our general element and adult social care precepts was made at a council meeting on 21 February 2024.  

The starting point are the amounts charged in 2023-24 for these two parts of the Council Tax combined. The increases are a percentage of this combined figure.

The Bury Council general element increased by 2.99% of the total amount charged by the council last year. The Adult Social Care Precept increased by 2% of the total amount charged by the council last year.

Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner precept

The Mayor of Greater Manchester sets the Police and Crime Commissioner precept to financially support policing in the region. For 2024/25, the precept increased by 5.3 percent from the previous year.

Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services)

The Mayor of Greater Manchester sets the Mayoral General Precept. The amount collected goes toward the regional Fire and Rescue service and a contribution to fund the Mayor and the functions he is responsible for. For 2024/25, the precept increased by 4.6 percent from the previous year.