Council tax to rise 6% in Cardiff

[jon1959]

Pembroke 16.3%, how difficult is it for young people living there!!!!

And the 2nd home owners, isn't it triple this year?

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.

[North Cardiff Blue]

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.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

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.

I've posted this before, and sorry to repeat myself, I'm going to do so again.

It seems that lots of people blame our dying town centres on high business rates. They also moan when council taxes go up. They also moan when services get cut because they only see their taxes increasing while being blissfully unaware of what councils are legally obliged to spend money on and how they get revenue from different sources.

Most days I'll see someone complain about potholes on social media. The same people moan about rises in council tax. They want to fork out less for better services, or they want to fork out less because they don't use some services. They are often the same people who think they should get to the front of the queue in the NHS because they've paid into it for so long.

As for 20mph, I see no evidence of that affecting our town centres in terms of footfall. One of the biggest problems that affects footfall in our towns is rising cost of living and less disposable income.

You might notice that I've not mentioned any political parties here, mainly because I see that as almost irrelevant to this issue.