If you need help making sense of your bill, you can view our understanding your bill page.
Bands and amounts
You can use myhome to find a property’s Council Tax band by entering the postcode or address.
Changes to your property may affect your Council Tax band.
The amount of Council Tax you pay depends on where you live. Your bill is made up of five elements, which are split between:
- Essex County Council
- Chelmsford City Council
- Essex Police
- Essex Fire Service
- Parish tier councils, if you live in a parish and your council provides facilities
- special expenses, if you do not live in a parish and there are facilities in your area
You can download and view the charges per band for 2024 to 2025.
You can download and view the charges per band for previous years.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) set Council Tax bands. You can ask the VOA for the data they hold about your property.
If you disagree with your Council Tax band, you can challenge your band on GOV.UK.
You can also look at GOV.UK for information about scams relating to challenging your band.
The VOA assesses newly built properties to ensure that they’re in the correct Council Tax band.
If you’ve moved into a new property that doesn’t have a Council Tax band, you should contact us.
If you think your Council Tax bill is wrong, you need to contact us.
You can find more information about who can appeal and how to appeal a Council Tax bill on GOV.UK.