The departing Kirklees Tory leader has criticised councillors who owe huge sums to the taxpayer.
The Examiner has revealed five Kirklees councillors have been summonsed to court owing hundreds of pounds in unpaid council tax.
The names or circumstances of the cases have not yet been revealed.
A further nine councillors have been issued reminders by council tax bosses for falling into arrears.
On Friday a third councillor came forward to admit receiving a warning.
Deputy leader of Kirklees Labour group, Clr Jean Calvert, has told the Examiner she is not one of those who had been summonsed but she admitted she had received a reminder letter in the past two years.
Last week, Newsome Green Clr Karen Allison and recently deposed Colne Valley Lib Dem, David Ridgway, revealed they had got ‘red letters’ in the post asking why they hadn’t paid up.
Clr Allison said she had problems after her bank account was frozen after she lost her bank cards.
Clr Ridgway said he had paid the money but Kirklees had “lost” it.
Other councillors on the record as not being involved include Clr Martyn Bolt, Clr Michael Watson, Clr John Taylor and Clr Amanda Pinnock.
The Examiner understands party leaders have now been given information on which of their group are involved.
Conservative group leader Clr Robert Light, who stood down last week and will be replaced at a vote on Monday, said he had not received a list of names but was confident that no Tories were among the councillors who owed large sums.
A list of summons passed to the Examiner showed one councillor owed £1,186 when they were called before the courts, another £977, a third £870 and a fourth £763. The fifth owed just £27.
Clr Light said warning letters to those who owed a month or two in money were not a big scandal.
But he said the ones that owed several hundred, or more than a thousand pounds, were of concern.
“That’s where the interest should lie,” he said.
“If there’s a situation where they haven’t paid £700 or £1,000 then that’s not right.
“But I want to see the full picture. We need to know the circumstances as the information so far is just a snapshot in time.”
Lib Dem leader Clr Nicola Turner said she had been told none of her current councillors were implicated.
Green leader Clr Andrew Cooper said his information was that there were no further transgressions by his colleagues.
Labour leader, Clr Shabir Pandor, who is set to be elected council leader on Wednesday, said he had not received any “formal communication” about which Labour councillors were implicated as he wasn’t the leader at the time the news broke.
Clr Pandor said he did not want to speculate until all the details were clear.
“Every single case will be different,” he added. “Let’s wait and see.”
