Web Forum: Taxing times
Feb 9 2010 by Andrew Jackson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
AS long as we have a Council, there’ll never be a shortage of debate on the Examiner web forum!
Dave50 was ready to put the world to rights: “It was inevitable that news should start leaking out that council taxes must rise in order to pay for all the snow-clearing and gritting due to the cold weather in December and January. What utter rubbish!
“When my gas bill rises trying to keep warm, I can’t go to my employer and say ‘I need some extra money, off you to pay for my gas bill’. I have to make economies and savings in other areas. Which is what these councils should be doing.
“There is no justification whatsoever in using this as an excuse to get even more money out of us. There should be no rise in Council Tax at all and if that means big spending cuts then so be it. Don’t say there is nowhere cuts can be made. Just give me a day with the accounts and I bet I can find millions in pointless spending, empire building and waste.”
StephB was in two minds: “Not noted for being a staunch defender of KMC, I find myself torn over that question. Firstly, I agree that ‘contingencies’ which are foreseeable (like bad weather) should be provided for and paid out of funds.
“Conversely I feel that councillors’ expenses are out of hand.
“The total amount paid out by KMC under that heading, if halved, would probably pay all the ‘near-minimum’ wages involved as well as all the salt!
“But, finally, I must go back to the fact that these services have to be paid for and we elect the politicians who vote for the level of Council Tax! So get on to yours and bring these columns to their attention.”
Otis was in a philosophical mood: “Seems quite appropriate to me ‘tax rise to pay for snow.’ You pay your KMC council tax, they give you two cupped handfuls of something that vanishes almost as quickly as, well melting snow, really. They then take the money and, yes, they do spend some of it on services, but over many decades the councillors have become accustomed to spend, spend, spend on whatever fancy notion is their particular flavour of the week.
“The fact is that the maintenance and upkeep for their pet project will for the foreseeable future be passed on to the taxpayers. That’s the problem with easy come, easy go money.”
