Trafford Council says it will encourage Altrincham Market to appeal the rates bill it received from the Government.
It follows false reports in the media and on social media which claimed the Council was responsible for the increased costs.
Altrincham Market was paying a rates bill of £16,000 annually but they now have received an invoice of £92,672 from the Government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) gives the government the valuations and property advice needed to support taxation and benefits. It has It is now assessed Altrincham Market as a ‘Food Court, Market and Premises’ as previous rateable assessments were based on the premises being a ‘Market and Premises.’
However the market has a business rates holiday for the financial year 2020/21 due to the extended retail relief given by the Government which means it gives them and other businesses in a similar position, a year to appeal before they have to pay the new rate.
Leader of Trafford Council Andrew Western said:
The regeneration of our town centres in Trafford, including Altrincham has been one of our priorities over recent years and we remain committed to making sure they continue to thrive.
This is a difficult time for traders and no doubt the increase in their rates bill from the Government’s Valuation Office Agency would have come as a surprise to them and that’s why we would encourage them to appeal.
Contrary to some false reports in the media and on social media, Trafford Council does not set the rates, this is done by the Government’s Valuation Office Agency. We collect them on the Government’s behalf which is our statutory duty.
However, while we do not have any influence over this process we queried the increase charge with the Valuation Office Agency over a week ago but have had no response as yet, therefore I have followed up this query formally in writing asking this to be reviewed to ensure that the revised amount is fair and accurate.
In the meantime the traders do not have to pay any money for the 2020/21 financial year as the government has extended retail rate relief as part of its response to coronavirus.”
Posted on Friday 1st May 2020