Hundreds of residents in Hardingstone and West Hunsbury whose council tax bills rocketed this year will now have them reduced.
Boundary changes meant certain green spaces moved under the control of the two parish councils, which they have to pay to maintain.
The so-called ‘special expenses’ section of the council tax bill saw West Hunsbury charged £86,841 instead of £6,624, and Hardingstone £9,325 instead of £1,217.
But Northampton Borough Council agreed to review the bills, and a report heard at full council this week was moved, to return them to their original amounts.
This means people living in a Band D property in Hardingstone will get a £12.31 rebate, while people in West Hunsbury will get a £55.41 cut.
In the debate at the meeting, Councillor Phil Larratt (Con, East Hunsbury) said: “I think it is unfair to the residents of Northampton and I think a review will resolve this once and for all. I hope moving forward, we can resolve this issue.
“Hardingstone Parish Council reduced its budget but its’ council tax went up because of this anomaly.”
Councillor Sally Beardsworth (Lib, Kingsthorpe) said: “It is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. People should have been informed up front.”
Gillian Greaves, Hardingstone Parish Council chair, said: “They re-drew the boundaries and left the parish council with a bill of about £8,500. We are now back to where we were last year.
“Feelings ran very high on this.”
The report recommended that: “Council approve a reduction in the special expenses, through a temporary re-designation of some of the park and open space areas, to be funded through a contribution from reserves.
“These changes resulted in some of the local parks now being in one of the new parishes; previously these were in an unparished area and in two local parks now being within the boundary of one of the previously existing parishes.”