AnDy_PaNdY

Our council is seriously taking the pi$$, especially when you consider my pay rise will be no more than 2.5% (if I'm lucky).
If I refuse to pay and get sent to prison for a few weeks will they make me pay up when I come out ?
Is there any way to get back at the system without spending lots of time in prison.
If they give my 14% to the firemen I'm gonna burn their station down. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

dnb

I'm not happy about my council tax either, but I don't think there's much that can be done.

18% or so last year (don't remember exactly), and a good chance of ANOTHER 18% this year. What's changed???

Luke

Thats to pay for

1. The lovely clean streets.
2. Prompt removal of dumped cars /fridges/sofas etc
3. Repair to road surfaces
4.CCTV to help crime.


Bargain.......

Neil Smalley

LOL@Luke

Going up 18-20% where I live

Shame we can't opt out of some services. E.g our kids are'nt at school therefore we don't pay the education 'tax' I

what would scooby do

There are no police in Milton Keynes so **** knows where that money ends up ???

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Bu99er, mines already 1460 a year !

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

I hope mine doesn't, if it wasn't for the single person discount, I'd be paying 1800 a year at the moment to get my bin emptied every second week.
The housing estate is privately owned so I pay my bit for the upkeep of that already.

doctor CLIFFORD

highfields??

Jen

Council Tax "down south" is actually likely to be going up more than "up north" as the Govt. has massivly reduced the amount of money counties that are perceived to be more affluent get, in order to place it into the other counties considered have a greater need. And before I get flamed - this has turned into a north/south divide.

Btw - just a quick point, most Council tax is given to the emergency services and county councils, the Borough Council in which I work only gets 14% of that, so before you start getting on the phone and shouting at your local council, just have a quick think about it

(Oh, and mine's going up too )

pslewis

Well, I certainly hope that everyone who pleaded that the Firemen deserve a big pay rise DO NOT have the cheek to moan about council tax increases!!

Such is typical of these people - pay everyone loads of money, they say, then - its, "what? ME PAY????? NO!!!!! its not fair!!"

If you want the country to be a better place than under the tories (who doesnt??!!) then IT COSTS!! and taxes are the way to pay for it!!

Its a brave party with a brave leader that takes the courage of their convictions and ACTUALLY does something despite the destractors!! Carry on Blair, grand job!!

Pete

boomer

That'll be the same Tony B.Liar that is about to waste THREE POINT FIVE BILLION POUNDS on an illegal war in the Gulf???

Maybe we need to sort out our problems at home, before taking on the world????

mb

pslewis

We'll get that money back WITH INTEREST!!

All that oil, we will have our money back just in time to see some nice tax cuts!!

Carry on Blair!!

Pete

unclebuck

you seriously believe Council Tax would *ever* go down?? Or that if they put VAT on houses they would ever take it off again?? Get real.

pslewis

Maybe not BUT we can always drop my tax from 40% to 30%?? reward the engine room of the country!!

Pete

Dracoro

Council tax to go up by n% to improve services (which should run ok if most the money wasn't wasted in burocracy(sp?)) so the question is, will the services increase by a factor of n%?

I bet little will change for your 14%.

pslewis

AHA, thats where you are wrong see?? To satisfy the Scoobynet Moaners the councils have decided to give the Firemen 40% after all without modernisation - so, there we go - the extra cost has gone to them and NOT to the Police, Old Peoples Homes or the Schools.

Money well spent?? At least the firemen are sleeping happy!! eh??



Pete

Esoteric Beast

I'm going to sign on that way they pay my council tax for me and then I can sit on here all day

boomer

Pete,

don't you ever check your facts???

Take for example, Birmingham City Council...

The total council spending for 2002 was 2.5 billion pounds

The total cost of the West Midlands Fire and Civil Defence Authority (including salaries, pensions etc.) was just over ninety million pounds!

Even giving the firefighters their requested 40% increase would only have a minor effect on the overall budget!!!

mb

pslewis

However small - you would STILL moan and whine and winge, I dont let facts cloud my judgement anyway!!

Pete

boomer

FWIW, again in Brum...

Police cost GBP428.5M
Public Transport (WMPTA and Centro) cost GBP142M
Schools (er, education) cost GBP743M
Unfortunately there is no bottom line for wrinklies, but...
Social Services cost GBP790M
Non-Council Housing cost GBP175M
Council Housing cost GBP387M

mb

Dave P

Boomer, I think the whole issue with the Fire Service is that if the councils / government bow to the Fire Service claims, we can expect the rest of the public sector to queue up with the same ridiculous demands. See then what happens to the £2.5 billion spend.

Again I find myself siding with Mr Lewis. In East Sussex I believe we are in for at least 20% I was told the other day it's the highest increase in the country. Councils must contain costs. It is ridiculous that they can increase taxes by 20% and show NO improvements to services.

Dave

DRUNKNORGY

47% of our council tax in Cheltenham is going on the scrounging Slappers claiming Housing Benefit. We have an increase this year of 17% BTW

boomer

Dave P.

exactly!!!!

So how come the council can increase rates (er, council tax) by 20%, and yet only offer crap rises to employees and naff all improvement in deliverables?

Think how much better services could be if the firemen, police, teachers etc. (i believe that nurses and doctors are NHS and thus a separate budget) actually got some of that 20%???

mb

ChrisB

You don't half make me laugh at times Pete

So, some of the projects our esteemed Labour controlled council in Stoke-on-Trent ran to improve our city...

The council has overspent by £15 million on the 'Cultural Quarter'

"The auditor's report will be the culmination of a process begun in 1999 when the then chief executive Brian Smith announced an investigation into how the Cultural Quarter project had become £7 million overspent. This was put on ice while the council sued the project's architects for fear of prejudicing the council's case. When the council lost the case, having lost a further £8 million, Mr Stockley announced a fresh investigation."

They've blown a further £1.5 million on a FUBAR hi-tech business venture called Worldgate. That figure could double with interest and it's us mugs paying council tax that are coughing for it for 20 years+

Council tax will be up by 9 to 13%, despite budget cuts of £4.2 million! It's not going up to provide better services, it's to try to pay for all the incompetent screw-ups they've made.

ariel

The increase in tax here in Shropshire is 16.6% and a cumulative 73% in the last 4 years. And I think that is taking the p1ss.

Edit to celebrate my first corner in 5 years.

[Edited by ariel - 2/8/2003 9:39:12 AM]