Surrey to hold a referendum...

Can't help but feel things should be radically streamlined across the whole of government before any rise should be done.

But that will never happen.
 
will the rise be ring-fenced and additional to current spending? (ie so they cant ring fence it then slash the normal funding by 15% to allow them to effectively spend the money elsewhere.)
 
Tefal said:
will the rise be ring-fenced and additional to current spending? (ie so they cant ring fence it then slash the normal funding by 15% to allow them to effectively spend the money elsewhere.)
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Exactly, this is the kind of thing I'd want to be reassured about before voting in favour. I am, perhaps justifiably, highly cynical regarding local and national government spending :p
 
I would be happy to pay more in tax (council or otherwise) if i had trust/confidence that it would be used effectively for social support or anything else meaningful.
 
I think the problem is 15% is a silly amount to rise to many people... certainly when some councils take the urine when it comes to some costs...
 
The problem with putting the increase on council tax is that me or you may be happy to pay it, but a family earning minimum wage who are already struggling and who may be in debt simply cannot afford it. The increase should come from general taxation, not a flat tax like council tax.
 
Roar87 said:
The increase should come from general taxation, not a flat tax like council tax.
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This is a good point.

Is the only reason this proposal is for a council tax increase, rather than NI or income tax, because the tax is levied by the local council instead of government? Or are there other factors?
 
They upped ours to pay for policing a couple of years ago. It went to a referendum and they lost, but increased it anyway. Almost all of it goes in to dealing with the anus of Bedfordshire (otherwise known as Luton by the people who live there) :/
 
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Roar87 said:
The problem with putting the increase on council tax is that me or you may be happy to pay it, but a family earning minimum wage who are already struggling and who may be in debt simply cannot afford it. The increase should come from general taxation, not a flat tax like council tax.
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The is the Conservatives shifting the blame.
 
Surely it should be means tested if it ever went through. £200 to my family is a big enough deal to make me wince, £200 to some of the rich in the area is change they'd find down the couch.

How do they think the referendum will honestly go?
 
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I hope the referendum goes the same way as the Surrey inhabitants of this thread. At least if the money is taken from other budgets, then we have enough 4 by 4's to handle the uneven, unkempt roads :p

bloodiedathame said:
Surely it should be means tested if it ever went through. £200 to my family is a big enough deal to make me wince, £200 to some of the rich in the area is change they'd find down the couch.

How do they think the referendum will honestly go?
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£200 is a big deal but going by my local councils price banding, it looks to be less than what a 15% increase means!
 
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Roar87 said:
The problem with putting the increase on council tax is that me or you may be happy to pay it, but a family earning minimum wage who are already struggling and who may be in debt simply cannot afford it. The increase should come from general taxation, not a flat tax like council tax.
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Brighton council held a referendum on a rise in council tax many years ago. The richer residents voted yes and the poorer ones, despite having the most to potentially gain, voted no. They felt that they couldn't afford in a modest rise.

I'm almost completely ignorant to how council tax is set. Could a council raise just the higher council tax bands? Our council tax has been frozen for years and the effects are really starting to bite. I'd willingly pay more for a cleaner, happier environment.
 
Not sure they can raise it by band. But I do know the top ones are already crazy. Where my parents live (in the deep Bedfordshire countryside) the council tax is insane despite them not actually doing anything out there except collect the bins every 2 weeks. They don't even salt the roads there any more.
 
Tunney said:
Brighton council held a referendum on a rise in council tax many years ago. The richer residents voted yes and the poorer ones, despite having the most to potentially gain, voted no. They felt that they couldn't afford in a modest rise.

I'm almost completely ignorant to how council tax is set. Could a council raise just the higher council tax bands? Our council tax has been frozen for years and the effects are really starting to bite. I'd willingly pay more for a cleaner, happier environment.
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Really the poorer pay far more relative to their wealth normally. I believe the raise applies across all bands, not just the more expensive ones. I believe the band is calculated from the valuation at a certain point in time. The charges of tax however does not seem fair as depending on the band, you could only be paying 15-20% more than your neighbour whose property worth is half of yours. This seems even more unjust when you think that the value of this increase is worth even less to these people who are wealthier and likely have more disposable income.

Not just that but in areas like surrey where property value is generally high, you have family's in the upper bands who get charged significant council tax but dont necessarily have the same disposable income as people in similar bands in other areas.

You can argue that if you cant afford to live there then dont, but fact is that they can afford to live there until councils start pulling stunts like this. How will counties like this operate if everyone below a certain wage gap suddenly wouldn't be able to live here.
 
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