East Lothian Council has been informed by the Lothian Valuation Joint Board of a number of council tax banding errors in some properties in Musselburgh and Prestonpans dating back to the original banding valuations for the start of Council Tax in 1993.

Over 200 houses in Prestonpans and 300 in Musselburgh will have their banding increased by a band from 1st October 2008. This means that over 500 households will have an increase in their Council Tax but this will not be backdated and so they will only pay the extra going forward from then.

A further 29 households in Prestonpans will see their banding reduce and this reduction will be backdated until  1993 so these householders will receive a full rebate payment.

Cllr. David Berry, Council Leader, explained: “All domestic properties in Lothian are placed on a Council Tax banding by the assessor of the Lothian Valuation Joint Board. Each of the four local authorities in Lothian then have the responsibility to inform all households of their assessed charges and to collect the appropriate Council Tax amounts. The Board has now informed East Lothian Council that some errors were made at the time of originally assessing some properties in Musselburgh and Prestonpans resulting in them being placed in the wrong council tax banding.

“A letter will be sent by the Assessor at the end of this month giving details about the reason for the change. We would recommend that people wait until they have this letter confirming any changes before contacting the Lothian Valuation Joint Board. Anyone who is currently receiving council tax benefit will have their benefit increased appropriately.”

The annual increase in a band will be in the region of £160, or around £14 per month. The new bills will be issued in late October 2008.