https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...rdiff-28678737
Cardiff council has dropped some of its plans to save money on street cleaning and public bins but council tax will raise more than expected.
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https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...rdiff-28678737
Cardiff council has dropped some of its plans to save money on street cleaning and public bins but council tax will raise more than expected.
FFS for nothing, they don't even collect the bins now, you have to sort them in stupid bags, next year I expect Cardiff Labour council will want you to deliver it on your bike, but book an appointment first, check the day that they are not on strike and take your driving license which will be obsolete by then
It's capped in England at 4.99%.....Wales seem to go their own way..."Since devolution we have respected the responsibility of local authorities and not used powers to cap council tax,” they added, confirming that no cap will be enforced this year.
I read that in Pembrokeshire it goes sup 16%?!!??
I don't know how people can whinge about this after 14 years of voting for austerity and cuts to public services, what do you actually expect?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-68278744
Interesting that for the whole of the UK the most expensive Band D council tax bill will be in Rutland; the cheapest in Westminster!
From the same article Pembrokeshire has one of the biggest projected budget shortfalls in Wales.
No idea how the Council Tax levels have changed over time, but I would guess that there is more of an elderly/retirement population there than in many other areas? Not likely to be league leaders on business rates either?
As Councils have had to drop almost all of their discretionary spending since the Age of Austerity began in 2010 and focus only on their statutory responsibilities (mainly adult social care and emergency homeless housing - both going skywards as the revenue shrinks) - most of it funded by a property tax based on 1991 valuations - they will all be heading for the maximum allowed Council Tax rises just to meet their statutory obligations. And still many of them will fail, issue section 114 and sell any remaining assets to survive a bit longer.
There is a UK crisis in local authority funding. That is true in all parts of the UK, and even if devolved governments have more theoretical flexibility in policy making, the same pressures and constraints apply to all.
And no solutions coming from the UK government.
The average Band D Council Tax in Wales is 91% of the average Band D Council Tax in England.
Well they are not going to be leaders on business rates if the Welsh government tried to discourage English tourists and slowed the roads down and are trying to bring in local tourist taxes and get welsh farmers to give up profitable land for trees to be greener than England.
It's history repeating itself like Cardiff airport dying while Bristol airport is growing the same is happening to the whole country's economy.
Somewhere the model is flawed...and not making any political points here....but I really do think that Margaret Thatchers 'Poll Tax' was a much better way to collect local taxes.....paid according to the number of people in the household (and hence who uses more services), rather than the property valuation....even if a single person lived there.
Out of interest....here in the Dordogne, my equivalent tax is about €2500 a year (around £2140)....and at the moment I have a large house. However, because my income is solely from pensions (state and private) and fall below a certain level, because I am over 75 I am exempt from this tax. I DO however still have to pay €850 - which they say is the cost of refuse for a household of 2 adults/2 children - which to me is too high.
Next year this will largely disappear - as we are in a rural area there is no doorstep bin collection - we take our rubbish to local deposit points (usually once a week on the way to shopping). From next year these deposit points will be free for recycling waste, but with a charge of €1 per opening of the bin to throw away landfill items (the bin will be opened by a magnetic key issued to all households), with a minimum charge of (I think it is) €125.
Just a different way of doing things - and we don't have to separate every type of item to recycle (apart from glass).
...so that was about 14% of your salary.....mean average per household for Council Tax is around 10%....but that can cover x people......and THAT is why there is a lack of funding. People should pay individually.
The 20 council areas with the lowest average earnings in the UK all charged over 8 per cent of the median salary in council tax. Relative to both house prices and median pay, the four lowest charging councils were all in London. (my bold)...do you think THAT is fair? of course it isn't - if they were charged individually it would be more even.
No some families of six adults in a 3 bedroom in Butuetown could earn 15 times more than a little old pensioner in a 5 Bedroom house in Lisvane. Your house value has feck all to do with what you earn or what services you use, or what you can afford to pay it's stupid.
Probably a combination of both would give the fairest outcome.