Council tax charges and bands

The amount of council tax you pay depends on the value of your property and where in the county you live.

Every domestic property has been allocated to one of eight bands (based on its value in April 1991). If your property was built after this date, it will have been given the notional value it would have had in 1991.

You can check the band of your property on the GOV.UK website.

If you have a query about the valuation band of your property (shown on your bill) you need to contact the Valuation Office Agency.

Council tax is compared between authorities using the Band D rate and the calculation of the other tax bands is based on set ratios compared to Band D.

For the County Council’s precept (including the adult social care precept), the charges per band are:

All other parts of council tax bills are adjusted by the ratio in the table above for properties of each band.

For 2024-25, the County Council’s tax charge increased by 4.99%. 2.99% of this related to general council tax and 2% is ringfenced to adult social care. For more information about the adult social care element please visit our Adult Social Care Precept page.

This 4.99% increase amounts to an extra £1.48 per week for a band D household, and raises over fourteen million pounds to help protect council services.

Other public bodies also make a precept and receive some of the tax collected. This includes the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Combined Authority, and in some cases your parish council.

For a Band D property, these additional charges are

• District/City Councils:  
  • Cambridge City: £225.39
  • East Cambridgeshire: £142.14
  • Fenland: £254.79
  • Huntingdonshire: £160.86
  • South Cambridgeshire: £170.31
• Police and Crime Commissioner: £285.48
• Fire and Rescue Service: £82.26
• Combined Authority: £36.00
• Parish Councils – these charges vary

To see the make up of a Band D Council Tax bill in each part of the County, please see here:

For many years, local authorities have had the amount they can increase Council Tax by, without holding a referendum, capped by central government. For Cambridgeshire County Council, this cap was 4.99% for 2024-25. Different caps apply to different types of council, but for parish councils there is no cap.

How our council tax compares with other areas

The county's tax levels are slightly lower than the average set by other county councils, both in the region and nationally.

You can see a comparison against the neighbouring shire counties in the following table: