How much has your council tax gone up this year?

jeffk said:
Councillors are paid on average £7000 a year. It’s not a job I’d do for ten times that, given the amount of abuse they get.
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Quick check for my county, all are on a minimum of 16k more senior 30-50k before expenses and alowances. Several members of commities are billed at £200-280 per day fee.

Alowances for food and hotels and rather interestingly £30 a night for staying overnight with thier own friends or relatives while working.
 
Beans on toast Dave said:
thats just going to fuel people buring stuff in the garden
thats if you can get away without paying it
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I think it will further encourage people to get rid of shrubs - we'll see more of these plots like you see in new builds, fences all round and a grass area and nothing else.

I'm not sure how they are going to track it, are they going to send collection teams with lists going, Number 25 paid we'll take that Number 26 has not leave that one.

I'll probably go the burn route and the grass cuttings can just go in the waste bin - We recycle so much that there is always room.
 
stigggeh said:
I think it will further encourage people to get rid of shrubs - we'll see more of these plots like you see in new builds, fences all round and a grass area and nothing else.

I'm not sure how they are going to track it, are they going to send collection teams with lists going, Number 25 paid we'll take that Number 26 has not leave that one.

I'll probably go the burn route and the grass cuttings can just go in the waste bin - We recycle so much that there is always room.
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I pay for a garden waste bin, £69.50 a year apparently.. The lorry has a screen with what houses to stop at.



It was interesting following the councillors on Twitter this week regarding the budget. The conservative minority run council failed to form a majority agreement to their cuts to services and lower cost parking to the seafront where tourists flock to and make a huge mess. All non conservatives voted for the labour amendments and they have been very bitter at every opportunity.
 
Wizzkidy said:
looked in the council site today and saw they are also going to charge for garden waste collection from April onwards, so that's no glass collection and you will now have to pay for garden waste collection.

Absolute joke.
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Same down here, but after all the cuts to council funding I'm no longer surprised, just waiting to see how the new child care arrangements are going to be " funded " if there are any nursery's left here.
 
Between increases AND cuts to services it's getting ridiculous.
Pay more, get less.
Imo a couple of things should happen, social services should be removed from council tax and be funded from direct gov taxation, and then gov should expand and clarify exactly what services our council tax is supposed to cover. All this nonsense where it varies from council to council needs to stop.
 
SteveX said:
Between increases AND cuts to services it's getting ridiculous.
Pay more, get less.
Imo a couple of things should happen, social services should be removed from council tax and be funded from direct gov taxation, and then gov should expand and clarify exactly what services our council tax is supposed to cover. All this nonsense where it varies from council to council needs to stop.
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The current system is especially harsh on counties where people come to retire, like Cornwall.

We have a population that is quite a bit older (by mean and median) than the rest of the country. People are coming here with the sole purpose of living out their final days, when they need the most support.

Also the young are moving away to find better employment, due to depressed wages (ironically, care workers get paid a pittance!)

Expecting the council to fund social care, from a working age population that is earning lower than the national average, is completely unfair.

e: Last time I checked, social care related costs were 55% of the total expenditure of the council.
 
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FoxEye said:
The current system is especially harsh on counties where people come to retire, like Cornwall.

We have a population that is quite a bit older (by mean and median) than the rest of the country. People are coming here with the sole purpose of living out their final days, when they need the most support.

Also the young are moving away to find better employment, due to depressed wages (ironically, care workers get paid a pittance!)

Expecting the council to fund social care, from a working age population that is earning lower than the national average, is completely unfair.

e: Last time I checked, social care related costs were 55% of the total expenditure of the council.
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Thanks @moon man :mad:
 
Our band D semi detached three bed home has gone up by £30 from £195 for 10 months to £225 for 10 months ie £300 per year. This is way more than 5% and with all the new housing around Crewe and Nantwich a much increased tax take.

Cheshire East council are the modern equivalent of highwaymen without the politeness.

Plus £56 per year for a garden waste bin. :mad:
 
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413x said:
Lol. That is ridiculous. But when it's not your money.. Its easy to waste away
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IIRC the government actively pushed for councils to invest in various schemes, and set limits on how much reserve cash they had.

Things like investing in property makes a certain amount of sense for councils because if the choice is to have something like a shopping centre that has to close due to lack of investment or potentially trying to help save it, then trying to save it keeps it operating for businesses (income, draw to the area), keeps it available for facilities, and potentially stops it becoming a complete drain on the council resources when it dies and is left to rot but now become a draw for crime and a risk for arson etc.

Also depending on when they invested it could have been something they'd been advised to do by multiple experts etc as a "safe" investment.


Back on topic, so far I've not had our council tax bill through for this year, but I'd agree very much with those that say the bandings are pretty random, we're an E, the same banding IIRC as properties that are worth 3-5 times as much.
 
413x said:
This has to be coming.
To sell actually profitable assets is insane and incredibly short sighted.

Surely in a few years (not many) these cash strapped councils won't have anything else to sell off?
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Central government is forcing Birmingham Council to sell off everything it can possibly flog. It’s all going to go at well below market value and it’s so short-sighted.

As the quote goes: The problem with Thatcherism is you eventually run out of public assets.
 
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