Preston, Blackpool and Blackburn residents failed to pay almost £60m in council tax over the past five years
Lancashire Councils face a collective council tax black hole of almost £60m, made up of bills owed from the past five years.
Accident Claims Advice sent FOI requests to councils across England, Scotland and Wales to discover how much council tax has not been collected since 2019-20.
Preston City Council, Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council have fallen short by a collective £59,867,303.43.
Preston City Council faces the greatest task in recouping unpaid council tax, having lost out on £26,379,215.79 in the past five years.
14,004 accounts were unable to pay their full bill in 2023/24, leaving Preston City Council short by £8,890,973.19. The effort to reclaim that money comes in addition to seeking the £6,020,288.44 that 9,562 accounts still owe from 2022/23.
£4,849,969.97 is still unaccounted for from the 2021/22 tax year, while £3,604,770.39 worth of 2020/21 Council Tax is marked as uncollected and not written off.
Preston City Council still has £3,013,213.80 worth of uncollected tax from 2019/20, meaning that the 6,005 accounts in arrears are still considered to owe tax that was due half a decade ago.
Blackpool Council faces similar shortfalls, having missed £22,322,638.38 worth of tax in the past five years. Of that total, £8,570,396.22 was uncollected from the 2023/24 Council Tax bills, with 15,262 accounts short on payments.
11,381 accounts still owe £5,954,266.96 worth of Council Tax from 2022/23, while the outstanding figure from 2021/22 stands at £3,992,470.08.
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council have half the deficit of Blackpool Council, though have still missed out on £11,165,449.26 worth of funds in the past five years.
Residents fell short on their bills by £3,684,564.49 in 2023/24, with the debt attributed to 9,356 accounts. £2,306,626.59 due in 2022/23 is still not collected, while the deficit linked back to unpaid 2021/22 bills sits at £2,070,837.84.
How much was left uncollected across Lancashire councils in 2023/24?
Preston City Council: £8,890,973.19.
Blackpool Council: £8,570,396.22.
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council: £3,684,564.49.
South Ribble Borough Council: £2,586,254.00.
Chorley Council: £2,330,425,72.
Pendle Borough Council: £2,271,530.05.
Fylde Borough Council: £2,015,276.74.
Ribble Valley Borough Council: £337,596.11.