Council tax bill - is this wild or are yours insanely high too?

[Notmycircusnotmyotter]

My local council took £232 in direct debit today for council tax. I'll be honest, I don't budget to the pound, so was shocked when I saw it and assumed they had wrongly taken off my single person discount. But nope. £232 is what 75% of the council tax charge is for my 3 bed terrace.

WTAF. This feels insanely high.

please don't tell me all about bankrupt councils and adult social care. I've heard it. I know.

My point is how are ordinary people paying these sorts of bills? I'm a single parent of two on a decent wage and it stings.

I can’t read it but if ~78% is social care (posted earlier) and 25% is salaries then something is not adding up.

That was supposed to say glad you got yours sorted but I'm really nice of you to tell your neighbour as well. I bet they were so pleased. Well done!!

@FruAashild I had no idea that the difference was so large. Our council does regularly remind us that we have one of the lowest rates in the country but I just thought it was a few percent lower and more than made up for by the amount we pay for parking permits. I didn’t realise some places pay double what we do.

I’m private sector (always have been) and hear this a lot. People I knew that worked for state / local government entities all had the same comment. Once salary was taken into consideration (and for some bonus) their total remuneration was much higher even taking into account lower pension contributions.

Thanks for that context! I could not read the article.

£377 with single person discount for a 3 bed semi here. Makes me feel sick

Comparing individual council tax charges seems a bit pointless, we all know there's a huge variation across councils and which part of the country you're in. Not saying the charges are right or fair - all I effectively get for my £331 every month is street lights, bin collections (with food bins thrown on the lawn on their sides every week for free) and maybe twice a year street cleaning. But I understand that most of what they lever out of my tight fist goes on social care and what have you; so be it.

What I find incredible is that the OP is prepared to bury her head in the sand and not do any forward planning or budgeting. Come on, the councils (well, ours, but I'm sure all the rest too) send the information out with a pretty full breakdown of the increase every year. I may not like it but I know exactly what I'm going to be paying come April, why on earth would you ignore that?

Thanks for that link @FruAashild .

My council tax is nearly at the top of the charts again, 2nd most expensive in the UK. They only came 4th last year!

No amount of my budgeting is going to make up for the gap between income and outgoings on tax at the moment, I am just not being left enough of my wages. Trying to save any further for pensions has become impossible. There's a limit to how far these demands can rise before people just can't pay them, it doesn't match wages, or the increase in food and everything else. Social care etc is all lovely, but in practical terms, the bin collections are about to move to 3 weekly to save council money, the roads are a mess everywhere and not being repaired, the town is dirty, rubbish strewn and unkempt, and it's very hard for many to see what on earth they are breaking their backs to pay for.

That's shocking, @Pickledonion1999 ! PIP is supposed to be cover additional costs arising from illness/disability, not pay the fucking council tax.

Pensions too.

And the diversity officers.

I'm sure there will be some kind of legal challenge to it soon.

That’s where you’ve gone wrong, not reading your letters.

It's because the council tax is based on property valuations for 1992.

Most experts would say that a revaluation of council tax is badly needed but politicians avoid it because inevitably there would be losers. As you can see from this thread most people regard themselves as "givers" not "takers" when it comes to public services.

Weren't Reform going to sack all those?

Except they found they mostly don't exist.

Other services should not be neglected though - our bin collections are sporadic, streets covered in fly-tipping , parks are derelict (equipment damaged and not replaced) libraries closed or have part time opening hours !

I am band B and with sole person discount mine is £180 a month.
Hoping to move soon (about 5 miles away into an area with a higher CT charge ) I perceive it worth it though (nicer quality of living )

Here we go again….

including the public sector workers

People whinge about public services when tories are in power and whinge about taxes when labour are. Can't have it both ways folks.

Most of that will be spent on looked after children and children's social care. Imagine resenting sexually and physically abused children being fed and housed.
Have you thought about putting Oliver! on and screaming abuse at the orphans? Might make you feel better. Although they did get jobs as pickpockets so you might like them I guess.

Gosh. That's a lot for 3 bed isn't it.

Sounds quite low

Mine is now about £370 a month for a 4-bed semi on a very average street. Most houses on the street are 1 or even 2 bands lower. I’ve challenged it but the challenge was turned down. There are people round here living in £2m + houses who only pay a bit more than us. So £232 doesn’t sound too bad to me!

£420 here. It has gone up quite a bit in recent years.

Places that are average pay double, the most expensive pay 2.68x as much as the lowest so you'd have to pay nearly £400 per month if you lived in an expensive council area. The so called 'mansion tax' will balance it out a bit, looking at a Band F house in Wandsworth (cheapest area) they will have to pay an extra £2500 which will mean they are paying the same as someone in Devon (most expensive area).