MILLIONS of pounds worth of council tax has gone uncollected by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council according to information released by the Conservative Party.
The figures reveal the amount to have almost trebled to well over £3 million in just three years.
According to the information, the Tory-led council has failed to collect £3,734,000 in council tax – equivalent to £65 per household. This compares to £1,321,000 which was outstanding in 2009/10.
The figures come just months after the authority voted to increase council tax for residents by 1.99 per cent – just 0.01 per cent below the threshold that would have triggered a public referendum on the decision.
Jonathan Isaby, political director of the Taxpayer's Alliance, said it was wrong for councils to plead poverty when they are failing to collect all the revenue owed to them.
He said: "It's little wonder some people are struggling to pay with the council having raised council tax again – and that's after a decade of rate hikes which meant that many people's bills virtually doubled."
The information also comes as controversial benefit changes start to take hold of households, and the Mirror reported how the borough's biggest social housing provider, Raven Housing Trust, is expecting to suffer as many of its residents fall into rent arrears as a result.
But councillor Julian Ellacott, the council's executive member for housing and welfare, defended the authority's collection rates saying the figures put them among the top performing councils.
"To date, we have collected £85.2 million of our £86.5 million council tax liability [98.5 per cent]," he said. "We are still pursuing outstanding debts and the expected collection rate for 2012/13 is over 99 per cent. In 2011/12, our collection rate was 98.5 per cent, putting us in the top 22 per cent of councils nationally."
In a statement issued along with the figures, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles slammed other councils for turning a blind eye to tax evasion but when the Mirror contacted the Conservative Party it refused to discuss Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.
The Mirror was denied an interview with a Reigate and Banstead council officer.
Figures for other Surrey authorities show Tandridge District Council has £1,521,000 of uncollected tax and Mole Valley has £1,211,000 uncollected.