DURHAM City Council says its record for collecting council tax and rent could soon be above the national average.
Councillors have been told the authority's collection rate for council tax, business rates and rent has increased by one per cent on last year.
It is now collecting 95.38 per cent of the council tax it is owed, 96.77 per cent of rent and 98.30 per cent of business, or non-domestic, rates.
The national average collection rates for council tax are 96.6 per cent and 98.3 per cent for business rates.
A spokesman for the council's revenues team said a debt management strategy had been followed since April and extra staff taken on.
He said: "This has led to positive improvements in our collection rates and the service will continue striving to improve this performance."
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