Camden plans council tax hike on empty second homes

CLAPTON

in general we need more the the money spent within an area raised by local taxes rather than money from central government

so one should be looking for council type taxes to rise 2 or 3 times across the board with a corresponding reduction in income or other taxes.

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu

CLAPTON wrote: »

in general we need more the the money spent within an area raised by local taxes rather than money from central government

so one should be looking for council type taxes to rise 2 or 3 times across the board with a corresponding reduction in income or other taxes.

I wouldn't mind this if we saw a corresponding increase in the quality of the services provided but the extra money would just go toward lucrative final salary pensions for council staff, pay rises and ivory backscratchers. :mad:

CLAPTON

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu wrote: »

I wouldn't mind this if we saw a corresponding increase in the quality of the services provided but the extra money would just go toward lucrative final salary pensions for council staff, pay rises and ivory backscratchers. :mad:

I'm simply suggesting that money spent locally is raised locally.

I would expect a reduction in 'services' as local people vote for poorer / fewere services in exchange for lower local taxes.

Graham_Devon

kabayiri wrote: »

£1300 a year. It won't even dent these individuals, should they manage to collect the money.

This was my point earlier. Even Band A's are within £120 of that each year down here.

I can't imagine a Camden property being Band A either.

Drifting from the point of the thread, if the government wan't money, why don't they realign council tax in London with the rest of the UK? It seems astonishingly cheap in some parts of London (comparitavely).

CLAPTON

Graham_Devon wrote: »

This was my point earlier. Even Band A's are within £120 of that each year down here.

I can't imagine a Camden property being Band A either.

Drifting from the point of the thread, if the government wan't money, why don't they realign council tax in London with the rest of the UK? It seems astonishingly cheap in some parts of London (comparitavely).

the council tax bands don't affect how much money is raised by the council; they only affect the distribution of the tax between the councils owners.

FTBFun

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Drifting from the point of the thread, if the government wan't money, why don't they realign council tax in London with the rest of the UK? It seems astonishingly cheap in some parts of London (comparitavely).

Population density is greater in London = more homes = more council taxpayers.

You can then get economies of scale when provided council services - I expect (for example) it's cheaper per household for refuse services when they're closely packed rather than spread over a wider area.

Graham_Devon

FTBFun wrote: »

Population density is greater in London = more homes = more council taxpayers.

You can then get economies of scale when provided council services - I expect (for example) it's cheaper per household for refuse services when they're closely packed rather than spread over a wider area.

Yes, but surely, when looking for revenue, and cutting services, aligning the whole country would be one of the first steps that could be taken?

I don't think there is any other tax that we all have to pay, that differs so much based on the region? Usually, with the lower paid regions having the higher costs?

CLAPTON

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Yes, but surely, when looking for revenue, and cutting services, aligning the whole country would be one of the first steps that could be taken?

I don't think there is any other tax that we all have to pay, that differs so much based on the region? Usually, with the lower paid regions having the higher costs?

the distribution of central government funds is determined by the Barnet formula

I've no idea whether London gets more that Devon; do you have any figures?

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Drifting from the point of the thread, if the government wan't money, why don't they realign council tax in London with the rest of the UK? It seems astonishingly cheap in some parts of London (comparitavely).

By realign do you mean remove the notional link between council tax and services?

We'd end up with another National Insurance - vaguely linked to something but just another tax.

FTBFun

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Yes, but surely, when looking for revenue, and cutting services, aligning the whole country would be one of the first steps that could be taken?

In terms of central government funding, perhaps. Not really sure what you can do about what the councils collect themselves (apart from vote them in/out etc).

I don't think there is any other tax that we all have to pay, that differs so much based on the region? Usually, with the lower paid regions having the higher costs?

No this is the only one. Not sure what point you're trying to make here?