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26
May 2021
Harrogate council apologises after wrongly threatening council tax payers with court
Harrogate Borough Council has apologised for wrongly sending letters to residents threatening them with court action for not paying council tax.
A Harrogate resident, who asked not to be named, alerted the Stray Ferret to the council letter dated May 21.
The letter asked for three months of council tax instalments and threatened a court summons, plus costs, if payment wasn't received by Friday this week.
However, only two months of council tax, April and May, were due by that date, which meant the demand for June's payment was made prematurely.
The source claimed the local authority's council tax department had been "overrun with angry council taxpayers" who had received similar letters.
He described the episode as "an administrative cock-up", adding:
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A council spokesman said:
The Stray Ferret has asked how many people received the demand for June's payment but the council has so far declined to reveal the information.
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