City centre businesses voted 154 to 38 for a third BID term, on a 35% turnout. Yes votes carried 87% of the rateable value voting, up from 72.5% in 2022.
St Albans city centre will keep its Business Improvement District for another five years. Businesses voted 154 to 38 in favour of a third term, which runs from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032.
The council’s ballot holder published the declaration of result on Friday 9 October, the day after the ballot closed. It declares the proposal “approved”.
The result
A BID ballot has to pass two tests at once. Most of the businesses that vote must say yes, and the properties voting yes must carry more rateable value than those voting no. This one passed both comfortably.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Valid votes cast | 192 |
| Votes in favour | 154 (80.2%) |
| Votes against | 38 (19.8%) |
| Rateable value of properties voting | £12,035,250 |
| Rateable value voting in favour | £10,523,500 (87.4%) |
| Ballot papers rejected | 8 |
| Turnout, by number of eligible voters | 35% |
The declaration gives the totals and the votes in favour. The votes against, and all the percentages except the turnout, are our own arithmetic from those figures.
Bigger turnout, bigger majority than 2022
The yes vote grew on both tests. At the last ballot, on 3 February 2022, the declaration recorded 145 valid votes, with 95 in favour. That was 65.5% by number. The yes side carried £6,147,250 of the £8,474,250 rateable value voting, or 72.5%. Turnout was 32.2%.
This time, 47 more businesses returned a valid paper and 59 more voted yes. Turnout rose to 35%. The share of rateable value voting yes rose by almost 15 percentage points.
A turnout of 35% still means most eligible businesses did not vote. Before the ballot, the BID’s proposal put the number of liable businesses in the area at circa 546. The result binds all of them, voters or not.
What the vote means for city centre businesses
Every business in the area with a rateable value above £12,000 will pay the levy from April 2027. Under the BID’s proposal, the terms are:
- 1.85% of rateable value in the first year, 2027/28, rising by 3% a year after that
- a cap of £10,000 on any one property in year one, also rising by 3% a year
- nothing to pay for properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less
- schools and colleges exempt
- the same boundary as the current term
The proposal puts the new investment over five years at “circa £3.1 million”. We set out what a shop would pay at each rateable value before the vote. A property with a rateable value of £30,000, for example, would pay £555 in the first year.
The levy is billed separately from business rates. The current term carries on until 31 March 2027, so nothing changes on bills before then.
What it means for you
If you run a business in the city centre. Your first bill under the new term comes in the 2027/28 year. Check your rateable value on the Valuation Office Agency’s business rates service and work out the levy at 1.85%. If you are at or below £12,000, you pay nothing.
If you live in or visit St Albans. The things the BID pays for carry on. Its proposal lists the Christmas lights, floral planters, hanging banners, bunting, the Shop Safe radio scheme and the St Albans Gift Card. A no vote would have ended the BID on 31 March 2027. The council had warned it might then have to pick up some of that work.
What is still to come
The council has one more decision. Section 51 of the Local Government Act 2003 lets it veto a BID. The council’s June report says the window runs “up until 14 working days from the day of the ballot”. By our count that is Wednesday 28 October. The veto can be used only on two narrow grounds:
- the arrangements conflict to a material extent with a council policy
- they would put a significantly disproportionate and inequitable financial burden on some ratepayers
Council officers told councillors in June that they were not aware of businesses raising concerns about a disproportionate burden during the consultation.
The council was also a voter. It has 14 properties inside the BID area, so it had 14 votes. In June, the Strategy and Resources Committee handed the decision on how to cast them to a strategic director, in consultation with two lead councillors. How those 14 votes were cast has not been published. Even if all 14 had voted no, the yes side would still have won 154 to 52.
The vote comes as the district’s own future is under review. A plan to replace the council with a West Hertfordshire unitary authority was paused by the government in September. A new parish council for the city centre starts on 1 April 2027, the same day as the new BID term.
Sources
- St Albans City and District Council: declaration of BID ballot result, 2026 (PDF), dated 9 October 2026, for every result figure. Read on 11 October 2026.
- St Albans City and District Council: declaration of BID ballot result, 2022 (PDF), for the 2022 comparison.
- St Albans BID proposal for 2027 to 2032 (PDF), for the levy rate, the cap, the threshold, the exemptions, the £3.1m figure, the services and the number of businesses.
- Strategy and Resources Committee report, June 2026 (PDF) and minutes of 23 June 2026 (PDF), for the council’s 14 properties, the delegation of its votes and the officers’ comment on the consultation.
- Local Government Act 2003, section 51, for the veto.
Have your say