parish council tax ???

paidinchickens

I know ... call me stupid but why do I have to pay parish council tax??

I lived in the city and never paid this and we had loooooooooads of churches nearby.

I have looked through the council tax bill for our new house and we have a parish council tax element.

OK so I may be a tad fed up over paying this due to the fact I parked in the church car park for 3 minutes last week so I could pick one of the kids up from school and there was no where to park. Well I was set upon by all the villagers with pitchforks and lanterns ( I may be exaggerating a little )

I have been single accused of destroying their car park by over usage!!! I have only parked there twice.

Well, I did not think that was very charitable and there was no forgiveness for this crime :rotfl:

So my question is does my share of the council tax bill pay for that carpark.........the 6 minutes I have ever used it in the four years I have lived here??????



Or am I just miffed........probably........don't like being told off heh heh

Andy_L

Parish Councils don't have anything to do with Church Parishes. There are simply a lower tier of elected local government. Cities tend not to have them due to the different balance of population and area

lincroft1710

If your city covers a rural area with several villages, which several provincial city councils do (e.g. Peterborough) then charging a parish council precept is normal. The taxpayers in the actual villages are probably paying a higher rate of CT than those in the actual city.

islandlass

Our local Parish council has done lots of things of benefit to the area including paying for electronic signs which flash on when people fly towards the local school gates at 60mph! The Parish paid for this themselves from the Parish Precept (the bit of the Council tax which is related specifically to our Parish). A lot depends on whether your local Parish council is proactive and does good for the community or whether it does nothing and sits on the dosh as "reserves". Why not stand as a Parish Councillor in the next election or go along to the next meeting (they are always public) and find out!

paidinchickens

The car park (scene of crime) comes under the village hall apparently which is paid for by the parish council. :mad:

I have read a few things about this and the gist is that although there is a cap on council tax there is no cap on parish council tax. A loop hole the government has been aware of for years.

They can set their own expenses budget :eek:

£21 000 spent on admin???????

I think I may trundle off to the next meeting as I should not moan about things I know nothing about:o

islandlass

Don't know the case at your Parish Council but expenses for ours are only the Clerks salary (no Parish Councillor gets expenses of any kind). How can admin cost £21,000????? 1) write to Parish Clerk and request a copy of the financial documents. Our Parish puts all minutes of meetings etc on to the internet - check if yours does! 2) go to the next meeting with your questions 3) there will be a point of the meeting where it is open to public participation. Speak and ask your questions at this point. They will probably not be answered there and then. Ask for them to be put onto the agenda for the next meeting. 4) stand next time! There is only an election if there are more volunteers than seats on the council - you may get on automatically! Good luck - let us know how you get on!

Andy_L

islandlass wrote: »

Don't know the case at your Parish Council but expenses for ours are only the Clerks salary (no Parish Councillor gets expenses of any kind). How can admin cost £21,000?????

I think you've answered your own question there