MORE than £23m is owed to Kirklees Council in unpaid tax.

And with the council struggling to make £30m savings in the coming year, it is a massive financial shortfall.

Scores of people have been issued with court summonses because they are well behind with payments for this year’s tax bill.

But a large proportion of the unpaid money dates back many years and council officials are still trying to recover it.

The deficit has been revealed in a Freedom of Information request which shows that the multi-million pound bill has been amassed from 1993 to 2010.

The council is currently trying to claw back £8m from people who haven’t paid their instalments for 2010/2011.

Court summonses have been issued to try to force people to pay £5.4m of this year’s debt.

And one or more reminder notices have been sent out to residents accounting for £2.88m of the deficit this year.

In all, the council are responsible for collecting £148m of council tax before April next year.

They say their council tax collection rates are “average” for metropolitan authorities, standing around the 96% mark each year for the past few years.

But the multi-million pound bill is revealed as the council face some tough decisions over job cuts after the coalition government slashed their budget.

The authority needs to save an extra £50m over the next four years on top of the £30m efficiency savings it is already making.

This means that over the next year the amount Kirklees must save has doubled from just over £15m to £30m.

A council spokesman said: “We will try to recover the amount owed using the methods available to us.

“Once we have exhausted these methods, or we think they will be unsuccessful, we can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for people to be committed to prison for a maximum of 90 days.”

Council officials said reminders or final notices were the first stage if people were behind with council tax payments.

The options available are to pay the amount shown within seven days and keep future payments up to date to avoid further action.

If the amount shown within seven days is paid but future instalments are late, or not paid at all, a second reminder is sent.

If the amount remains outstanding, a court summons is issued.

Council officials have the power to request financial information from you about your household's income and can instruct bailiffs to size goods and sell them off to meet the debt.

They can also deduct money from earnings or benefits.

The news comes on the day union officials continue negotiations with Kirklees Council chiefs in a bid to avert strike action.

Officials from Unison, which has 8,500 Kirklees staff, have been given backing for industrial action – albeit with a tiny majority after a ballot in which only a third of members voted.

They are opposed to any compulsory redundancies.