Council Tax is a tax on domestic properties collected and used to pay for a wide range of local services such as recycling and refuse collections, parks, schools, roads and street lighting. Although we collect Council Tax we keep only a small percentage with the remainder going to Surrey County Council, Surrey Police and Parish Councils (where applicable).

Council Tax is not a direct charge for individual services received; the amount collected is paid into a central fund to enable us to provide services for the benefit of the community as a whole.

The layout of Council Tax bills is prescribed by the government and we are required to list the Surrey County Council (SCC), the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey and Mole Valley District Council elements separately. There will also be a separate charge shown for those living in a parish.

For 2025-26 we are no longer required to list the Adult Social Care element of the SCC amount separately.

Each element is increased individually based on a Band D property.
For Surrey County Council the increase is 4.99%
For the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, the increase is 4.33%
For Mole Valley District Council the increase is 2.99%

Please note that each percentage is rounded to 1 decimal place (as required by law). Therefore, adding the percentages together and getting an average will not give the total percentage increase. This too needs to be calculated separately. See below for an example.

To calculate the percentage increase correctly, you will need both bills for 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Surrey County Council
Add together the figure for SCC and ASC to get the total amount paid to Surrey for 2024-25. Then calculate the difference between this figure and the figure for SCC shown on your bill for 2025-26.

To find the percentage increase, take the amount of the increase, divide it by the total amount paid to SCC in 2024-25 and multiply that by 100. That is then rounded and expressed as the percentage on the bill.

Surrey Police and MVDC
To calculate these increases, find the difference between the figures for 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Divide this amount by the amount shown on your 2024-25 bill (for that line) and multiply it by 100. That is then rounded to one decimal place and expressed as the overall percentage on the bill.

To calculate the Annual Charge percentage increase for a non-parished Band D property, the total amount payable for Council Tax last year was £2,287.32 and this year it is £2,395.20. The difference between the two (the increase) is £107.88.

£107.88 divided by £2,287.32 multiplied by 100 is 4.7%

To find out more about the Council Tax charges for Surrey Police and SCC, please use these links:

• Surrey Police
• Surrey County Council