DarlingtonBorough Council is the most efficient local authority in the Tees Valley for collecting council tax.
Recent statistics published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister list the performance of councils across England for collecting council tax in the last financial year.
The figures show Darlington's tax team collected 96.7 per cent in that period, making it the highest rate in the Tees Valley and an improvement on last year's statistics.
A council spokeswoman said the high rate of collection contributed to its rates being the lowest in the North-East.
Don Bristow, cabinet member for resource management, said: "The Local Taxation team in Darlington has strong performance management systems in place and adopts a customer-friendly approach.
"All council tax related work is dealt with promptly to ensure records are kept up to date, which contributes to the success of collection performance."
The Darlington team has seen an increase in the number of residents using direct debit to pay their council tax, which in turn encourages high collection rates.
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