Performance in collecting council tax for 2012/13 and previous years' arrears is its best ever, at a record 97.3%.
And the performance has been praised by the City Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The committee acts as a 'critical friend' and monitors the performance of the Council's 'administration'.
It praised the figures announced in an end-of-year financial report from Civica – the specialist public sector IT and process company now responsible for delivering Gloucester City's revenues and benefits service.
The City Council's former award winning team had a strong performance record and this has been improved with the new partnership, which is costing the Council £220,000 less a year to deliver.
The report also showed that:
- Council tax arrears have been reduced by the strongest ever performance – reducing by £1.5 million – and beating the previous performance by 0.27%
- Business rates collection has also been good with a total of 97.47% being collected which is a further improvement on last year
- Council workloads are high following Welfare Reform changes and changes to Council Tax exemptions , but over the past year performance has either improved or been maintained
Councillor Fred Wood, Cabinet member for performance and resources, commented: " I am very pleased with the reaction from the committee. This was a fantastic performance and is something that impacts on every resident.
" If people don't pay their council tax that is a debt that has to be picked up by every other resident. It also means that we have to spend time and effort chasing that non-payment. We are tenacious about the way we do that.
"However, the real story here is the fabulous performance by the team and the critical part it plays in the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation. I am glad that was seen and recognised by the members of the overview and scrutiny committee."