Council tax

Montybell1

Hi the council tax is forever an easy go to for local councils to rise each year, does anybody know how to set up a public debate to stop them increasing it in 2024, or you you contact to get it put to a public vote or is it that they can keep putting it up every year with no come back 

Keep_pedalling

How do you think LAs can continue to fund local services without raising costs?

la531983

Has the OP not heard of inflation?

He should thank himself lucky he doesn't live in Croydon. 

MattMattMattUK

Montybell1 said:

Hi the council tax is forever an easy go to for local councils to rise each year, does anybody know how to set up a public debate to stop them increasing it in 2024, or you you contact to get it put to a public vote or is it that they can keep putting it up every year with no come back 

Council tax rises are capped and it is rising at less than inflation, the council has to provide more services with less money and many people are exempt and so make no contributions. The Poll Tax would have been a fairer system, but people had a tantrum and so we ended up with council tax.

Albermarle

Montybell1 said:

Hi the council tax is forever an easy go to for local councils to rise each year, does anybody know how to set up a public debate to stop them increasing it in 2024, or you you contact to get it put to a public vote or is it that they can keep putting it up every year with no come back 

Yes, they are called local elections. On the other hand the government restricts the increases, regardless of how much the money is needed to fund local services.

Montybell1

Fund local services fine, but they cut services every year and still put it up, pity my wage doesn’t increase every year by 5% , council tax equates to 10.5 of my monthly wage, 10 year ago it was 5.5% of my monthly wage, so obviously council tax is above my inflation rate 

Montybell1

I suppose when labour get in power then I will expect a big reduction in my council tax bill …. NOT 

la531983

Montybell1 said:

Fund local services fine, but they cut services every year and still put it up

Would you like to hazard a guess why this is?

Council tax makes up a small percentage of local authority budgets. 

elsien

Have you read the information about how your council tax is made up?
Where I am a large part of it is made up of paying for the police and fire services.
The police have increased their budget by 6%. 68% of the local fire service budget comes from council tax. Social care is also a large part. 

Which of those would you prefer to be cut back on - they will still be there, regardless of which party is in power locally. 

There is also a maximum amount by which councils can increase council tax, as set by the government - 4.99 percent, with inflation running higher than that.
so what would your suggestions for maintaining current levels of service be?

MattMattMattUK

Montybell1 said:

Fund local services fine,

Local services are already underfunded, your suggestion is to make them even more underfunded.

Montybell1 said:

but they cut services every year and still put it up,

The cost of the services is still increasing faster than the small amount of additional revenue from the rises in council tax, that situation will only get worse with an aging population.

Montybell1 said:

pity my wage doesn’t increase every year by 5% , council tax equates to 10.5 of my monthly wage, 10 year ago it was 5.5% of my monthly wage, so obviously council tax is above my inflation rate 

That does not "obviously" mean anything as neither of those figures is tied to inflation. Inflation over the last ten years totals 36.3%, an average of roughly 3.5% per year. Council tax can rise at a maximum of 3%, plus a small amount of various precepts, which effectively caps it it at around 3.3-3.8% depending on the area, so the maximum your council tax could have risen was roughly in line with inflation. What your figures of the percentage of your income would indicate, if they are accurate which they may not be as your other numbers are not, is that your income has not kept pace with inflation. 

Montybell1 said:

I suppose when labour get in power then I will expect a big reduction in my council tax bill …. NOT 

Why would they reduce council tax, crippling council budgets at a time when they are already under significant pressure? 

sheramber

Why do you think they need to cut services?

Their costs go up just like yours.
 What services should they cut even more to prevent having to increase the council tax?