Sandwell Council owed £10.8m in unpaid council tax bill
More than £10.8 million is owed to Sandwell Council in unpaid council tax from the last five years.
The amount owed to the cash-strapped authority has risen each year since 2012, with the number at its highest between 2015 and 2016, totalling over £3m.
In 2012, £1.3m was owed before rising to £1.6m in 2013, £2.1m in 2014 and £2.7m in 2015.
But council bosses have defended their methods for collecting council tax, insisting they recoup more than many other authorities.
The cash-strapped council needs to save millions over the next three years.
The average household in the borough currently pays £390 a year in council tax, with £1,220 going to the council.
Proposals to raise council tax by almost five per cent across Sandwell have also been discussed by the council and will come into force in April if approved.
A total of £91m will be raised in 2017/18 from council tax, under the new rates. A five per cent rise would see families paying around £1 a week extra on average.
A total of £10,889,868 in unpaid council tax to Sandwell Council is outstanding from the last five years.
Though council leader Steve Eling believes that the council has one of the best tax collection rates in the country.
He said: "We have one of the best collection rates of council tax nationally, regularly achieving around 98 per cent each year."
"Balances which remain uncollected over the last five years represent less than 2 per cent of the total council tax.
"We continue to recover outstanding council tax and, as a duty to council taxpayers who have paid, we will pursue anyone with unpaid amounts."
The authority has embarked on a mission to save £38 million by 2018, and clawing back money it is owed in council tax would go a long way to easing its financial problems.