Higher council tax bills coming to Walsall with some residents facing one of the highest rates in the country

While Walsall ranks as one of the most deprived local authorities in the country, the Band D council tax charge is within the highest 10 per cent nationally.

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The overall council tax bill for the whole borough over the next 12 months equates to £203.7million, £12.6million higher than in 2025/26.

Mark Fearn, customer engagement lead at Walsall Council, said about 98 per cent of the bills are collected, even if the collection continues many years after.

Below is a list of charges per council tax bands for the upcoming year.

• Band A – £1,521.86

• Band B – £1,787.17

• Band C – £2,042.48

• Band D – £2,297.79

• Band E – £2,808.41

• Band F – £3,319.03

• Band G – £3,829.65

• Band H – £4,595.58

At a scrutiny committee meeting on March 12, 2026, authority leader Councillor Mike Bird said: “Our collection rates are one of the highest, if not the highest, in the West Midlands.

“This is why we win awards. All those people who criticise Walsall Council and Walsall as an area, they don’t know.”

Councillor Bird said ‘his main gripe’ with council tax is when home owners replace a small property with a ‘seven-bedroom building’ but still pay the lower charge.

He said: “When I see two-bedroom bungalows being mowed down and a seven-bedroom building in its place, they still pay the same rates as the two bedroom bungalow until they move.

“Now, that is something that we as an authority should be looking into to get a grip of this. If you look at the character of the area now it’s changed dramatically and yet these people are paying a lower rate than those in poorer circumstances. It’s so unjust.”

Chair of the scrutiny committee, Councillor John Murray, agreed: “It irks me as well because there has never been a reevaluation since 1993.

“So, any property where a two-bed bungalow or small three-bed is demolished and something akin to a small hotel is built in its place, somebody who built that in 1993 means for all these years they’ve been paying the rate for a two-bed bungalow and living in a seven or eight bed where three families and three incomes live. It’s totally wrong.

“There are far too many families in the borough who are getting away without paying their fair share.”

Members approved to refer the issue to cabinet for further action.

Mr Fearn reminded members it is legislation that a reevaluation cannot happen until a sale on the property occurs.