"Irrecoverable" business rates worth almost £60,000 are to be written off by Stafford Borough Council.

Cabinet members agreed to write off two debts, totalling £59,991.41, at their meeting on Thursday (June 18).

They also agreed to write off a £10,439.43 housing benefit overpayment considered irrecoverable.

But a report to the cabinet said overall recovery of housing benefit overpayments "continues to progress well, with some £443k being collected within this financial year (2025/26)."

Cllr Ralph Cooke, cabinet member for resources, said: "Council tax due for the 2025/26 council year amounts to £11.6m, of which 97.7% was collected by the end of March.

"Last year it was 97.8%, so a very marginal drop of 0.1%.

"Business rates for the 2025/26 financial year amounted to £59.6m, of which 98% was collected during the year.

"This was a small decrease on last year's collection, which was 98.6%.

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"This is not entirely unexpected. The section did warn during the year that repeating the previous year's performance would be challenging, as many retail, hospitality and leisure businesses were facing higher bills as Government relief had reduced from 75% to 40%.

"I would also add that around £174,000 of the amount uncollected related to town centre properties which are demolished, and awaiting Valuation Office action to remove them from the rating list.

"Had this happened before 31st March, our collection rate would have risen to 98.3% – much closer to last year's number."