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Original poster

Council f**king tax

188 replies

tinkerbellax · 06/04/2018 22:50

So my council tax has been put up yet again. This is a bill that as a single parent, cripples me.

My bins now get emptied every couple of weeks.
My library has been closed Angry
Today in my local paper it has been announced that extra funding for SEN children has been cut!

Wibu if I fight crime myself and empty my own fucking bin?

OP posts:
Elusiveone · 06/04/2018 23:57

No good writing to my mp as hes a Tory and votes for all the government cuts Angry

Justanotherlurker · 06/04/2018 23:57

Nah - same party in power in both where I am.

Poor you, it must be really hard to reconcile that Labour councils are just as much a shit show and filled with shady deals then.. Labour being the good guys would have made sure the local constituents wasn't affected?

If your an avid labour supporter you would have either been happy to pay more tax yourself personally to fund local issues anyway so not sure what the issue is

BoneyBackJefferson · 06/04/2018 23:58

vandrew4
Would it not be fairer to just incorporate it all into one tax based on personal income.

It wouldn't and if you can't see why then you are the problem.

DontMakeMeShushYou · 06/04/2018 23:58

If your an avid labour supporter

Wrong assumption, I'm afraid.

Justanotherlurker · 07/04/2018 00:00

No good writing to my mp as hes a Tory and votes for all the government cuts

Well labour ran on a campaign that ran on circa 90% of the cuts already in place, the others was backed out of when the true "costed" numbers came to light.

If you held your local candidate more to account it will make a difference nationally, this is the problem, your treating it as a team sport.

ALittleAubergine · 07/04/2018 00:00

Basing the council tax amount on income seems fairer and more efficient. Some redistribution of government funding might be needed for the poorer areas but all in all at the moment the tax is hitting those on low and average incomes the hardest.

Onlyoldontheoutside · 07/04/2018 00:04

Due to divorce and my ex dicking aroundabout selling the marital home I am paying my own council tax and half on an empty house.This makes my budget really tight when you add half the water rates and standing charge for electricity.

MyMorningHasBroken · 07/04/2018 00:04

I'm with you Tinkerbell, I'm on my own too. Working 33 hours a week with 3 children earning around £900 a month. I pay £120 in council tax which is crippling.
I had a short time out of work when I split from the children's dad whilst studying and I had it all paid for. :(
We have recycling emptied once a week. Black bins every 2 weeks.
Just wish i wasn't one of their employees because their pay is absolute rubbish! (Work in school!).

BoneyBackJefferson · 07/04/2018 00:06

ALittleAubergine
Basing the council tax amount on income seems fairer

How does making a single person that earns more than a family of 4 become fair?

At what point does the single person use more services than the family?

vandrew4 · 07/04/2018 00:06

boneyback care to elaborate?

rubybleu · 07/04/2018 00:08

Maybe not the amount you pay but arguably the service you get for your money will improve. Labour do not agree with austerity and they won't be cutting bin collections or closing libraries.

I went from K&C to Islington in London. I pay approximately twice as much council tax for a house with 50% of the one I lived in previously for exactly half of the services (once weekly rubbish vs. twice weekly, streets swept so rarely I had to call the council because we were literally slipping over on four weeks of rotting leaves in November). The diversity officers and Corbyn’s cronies are well paid, though.

Justanotherlurker · 07/04/2018 00:09

Wrong assumption, I'm afraid.

Well unless your unironically a green supporter and it being a waste of paper then in the current system you trying to go on the angle of anti-austerity is useless.

You still haven't offered nothing more than "muh evil tories", so I will safely assume you don't really have an answer other than some feel good metrics.. I doubt you have any real understanding of geopolitics or basic economics, and I will bet my house on you doing a full 180 degrees at some point on you being pro multinational business supporter in regards to brexit...

BoneyBackJefferson · 07/04/2018 00:09

vandrew4

Care to state why you think it fairer for a single person to pay more than a family of 4?

ThePlatypusAlwaysTriumphs · 07/04/2018 00:10

I'm in Scotland and we were lucky to have our council tax frozen for a few years (thanks SNP!)

But really don't talk to me about local council. I absolutely DETEST ours!

I started a business 7 years ago. Initially I employed 2 people, I now employ 14. The council promised me help....But actually they were completely and utterly hopeless - didn't know anything (eg, I needed a change of use, asked the council "business enterprise team" for help. They were flummoxed, quote " haha, you're probably cleverer than us! " I had to find out who used to rent the building. Guess who it was? That's right, the Council Business Enterprise team! They gave me no help at any level, and the final kick in the teeth Easter my business rates, which are meant to be related to rent value, are 1.5 times my rent value. Apparently I can't appeal that because "it's what WE think it's worth that matters" ie. We can charge what we like. Maybe the reason out once vibrant high street is dying slowly and painfully. And thats before mentioning all the parking charges they have introduced.

But they seem to pay themselves well ( male councillors a lot more than fenales, natch) , plenty of nice junkets, piss off at 4 pm and have free parking for themselves, so that's nice.

And don't get me started on the planning department!!!!!Angry

DontMakeMeShushYou · 07/04/2018 00:13

Poor you, it must be really hard to reconcile that Labour councils are just as much a shit show and filled with shady deals then.

All local councils have their good and bad points, and there are good and bad councillors from all points on the political spectrum. The point is that all local councils, regardless of which party holds the balance of power, are struggling to meet their financial obligations under the new funding arrangements. Those new funding arrangements were introduced by George Osborne. I'm merely interested in setting the record straight as there seems to be a lot of misinformation on this thread, and some rather confused posters.

vandrew4 · 07/04/2018 00:14

boneyback in exactly the same way that some wealthy people pay for an NHS service they rarely use; in exactly the same way that a single person on a high income will conrtibute proportionally more towards the defence budget. it's quite simple really

TemporarySign · 07/04/2018 00:15

DontMakeMeShushYou... and a load of politicians who simply can't hear the councils, or won't.

What I don't get is what anyone gains from this. Really. If the funding situation was common knowledge, surely loyalty to the concept of Britain as a state will break down further?

MumofBoysx2 · 07/04/2018 00:16

I wish the increasing council tax were comparable with the increasing services (taking into account inflation). Our bins are fortnightly but we had to get a second rubbish wheelie bin because one was always full and we recycle EVERYTHING we possibly can - even so we have 4 recycle bins every fortnight. Fortnightly isn't enough.

DontMakeMeShushYou · 07/04/2018 00:19

Well unless your unironically a green supporter
Keep going, you might get there in the end. Hmm

You still haven't offered nothing more than "muh evil tories"
Care to find the post in this thread where I have said the Tories are evil. [Hint: you won't because I haven't]

I've merely given facts.

  • the current funding crisis is due in large part to the axing of central government grants
  • my local council is Tory as is central government

But carry on digging your hole.

BoneyBackJefferson · 07/04/2018 00:24

vandrew4

But it isn't that simple, wealthy people could use the NHS more, the defence budget is a strawman argument, why should someone pay more for something that they are going to use less or have no chance of using more?

Justanotherlurker · 07/04/2018 00:25

The point is that all local councils, regardless of which party holds the balance of power, are struggling to meet their financial obligations under the new funding arrangements.

Exactly, and to try and pin that down to just being a central government issue is just shouting "give us the money we demand with no questions asked"

Nothing more than team sports, if people really did look into their local councils (across the political spectrum) then we could really start holding the government to account, labour councillors have no issue of making harsh cuts to score political points whilst still lining their pockets, it seems many seem to ignore this and attack central government, this same shit happened under the last labour government

vandrew4 · 07/04/2018 00:26

boneyback I'm not understanding. are you saying that if you may not use a service you shouldn't have to pay for it?

Justanotherlurker · 07/04/2018 00:29

Care to find the post in this thread where I have said the Tories are evil. [Hint: you won't because I haven't]

OK well in the literal definition you haven't.

You still have not offered anything different other than a vague term of anti austerity.

So go on then, who is going to do anti-austerity?

TemporarySign · 07/04/2018 00:29

Justanotherlurker I'm ignoring your misinformation attempts.

Regarding tax and what's right or not... look, no system is ever going to be perfect for individuals. They all rely on systems of averages. We need the services, and they have to be paid for. Generally the idea is that those who have the most pay for them, partly because they can, and partly because the fact that they have the most is simply that society has chosen to reward them the most, not necessarily that they deserve it the most. Actually in Britain most of it is down to inheritance.

BoneyBackJefferson · 07/04/2018 00:32

vandrew4

I'm saying why should the person that uses fewer services pay more for what they use against a person that uses more.

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