Calderdale councillor attacks council tax plans

Nov 11 2008 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A MEMBER of Calderdale Council’s ruling Cabinet has attacked plans to charge people far more council tax on empty properties and second homes.

The Cabinet is to consider a recommendation from the council’s Community Services Scrutiny Panel that the discount be reduced to from half to a quarter.

There are some 2,700 properties in Calderdale which have been unoccupied for more than six months and about 200 second homes.

Unoccupied properties are exempt from council tax for six months and then get a 50% cut in council tax.

Now the proposal is to halve that, which means people will have to pay far more to the council.

But Conservative Clr Amanda Byrne, who is responsible for community services said: ‘’I am very concerned about this proposal.

“In the current economic climate it is likely to hit individual owners who may already be in financial difficulty.

"It will also hit some residents who are going through a difficult time, for example the recently bereaved.

“By effectively increasing their council tax by several hundred pounds we will simply be increasing their financial burden.

"Even if people decide to sell their house the chances of them finding a buyer in the current market are much reduced.’’

Clr Byrne is also worried about the possible effect of the plans on local firms.

“We are already aware of developers needing to mothball sites and of significant redundancies by building firms,” she said.