£400k Rates rise at new fire HQ ” was not anticipated”

Shropshire’s fire service has been hit by an un-anticipated £400,000 increase in its rates bill after work at Telford’s fire station increased the value of the property, a meeting was told.

Officials at the Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority have re-jigged their budgets to be able to cope with the increase and the possibility of a challenge to the revaluation is being looked at.

“Since we’ve done the refurb and the extension the rates on the Telford site have increased by £400,000,” Joanne Coadey, the head of finance at the fire authority told a meeting.

“That figure is currently with a consultant who is working on an appeal on that number to verify that that number is in fact correct.”

The meeting of the strategy and resources committee at Shrewsbury Fire Station on Thursday (November 20) was told that this is still being worked on.

When asked whether the increase was “anticipated at the time” the meeting was told that they had anticipated increases in utilities and running costs at Telford.

“We also recognised a drop in maintenance costs but this one was not anticipated because we are working on the same site,” the head of finance said.

“I could see some drop but not a huge amount,” she added.

“We are hoping it will be reduced as a result of that appeal.”

The meeting papers recorded that the “increase has come about following its refurbishment and extension”.

“The Valuation Office Agency reassessed the rateable value of the building at the point it was handed over to the service by the contractor in September 2024 and the increase in size of the station will have been taken into account,” the papers read.

The papers also revealed that the contract cleaning costs for the Telford Central Fire Station have also increased by £36,000 following the refurb.

The fire authority has previously been told that the Telford Central Fire Station at Ercall House in Stafford Park 1 had an anticipated budget of £10 million, plus a £2 million buffer, when it was approved in 2021.

But the project, finished two years later than anticipated, was allocated £4 million more in 2023. The redevelopment was completed during the 2024/25 financial year.

The committee heard that the rates increase can be coped with partly because there has been an underspend in the organisation’s pay budget, caused by vacancies.