Council Tax Keeps on Creeping Up

Published by: This is Devon

CAMPAIGNERS have made fresh calls for a radical overhaul of the council tax system as the average annual household bill in Devon creeps towards £1,500.

Residents in Cornwall will pay  just over £1,200 this financial year, after the rate was unified under the new county-wide local authority. But for those living in the former district areas where council tax was previously lowest, it represents a rise of just below 5 per cent.

The economic downturn has seen some Devon district councils freeze their precept to try to ease the burden on residents. But, as the inflation figure used to determine wages turned negative for the first time last month, and the credit crunch continues to bite, many will struggle to make the payments.

Elderly people and those on fixed incomes can be particularly hard-hit by the tax, which is calculated according to the value of property. Many believe a system based on income would be fairer.

Albert Venison, chairman of the Devon Pensioners Action Forum, which has long campaigned on council tax, said those who had been prudent savers throughout their lives were now finding they could not afford simple luxuries because their of the tax burden, coupled with the plummeting value of their assets.

He said: "The average rise across the board is about 3 per cent this year, but you have to remember that that's on top of all the other increases that we have seen in the past. It means people who have been careful savers are suffering."

The warning came as the Government hailed the lowest rise in council tax for several years.

Local government minister John Healey said: "Most councils across the country are tightening their belts, which is exactly what the public wants to see."

Teignbridge District Council has prided itself in keeping council tax low, and managed to freeze its precept in 2005. But this year's rise of 3.5 per cent is one of the highest of any Devon district. Leader Alan Connett said the recession would leave the authority around £300,000 worse off this year, but said councillors had frozen parking and leisure charges to boost business and tourism.

He said his own view was that the current system was a "disaster". "In areas where the average salary is quite low, you can't have a uniform system of property tax," he said. "It should be based on a much fairer system of people's ability to pay.

"It's a rubbish system and it should be scrapped."

Earlier this month, the WMN revealed that 40 per cent of local government funding now comes from council tax, compared to 30 per cent when Labour came to power. Any drop in Whitehall's funding to local authorities means councils are forced to make up the difference by raising their precept of the levy.

Devon County Council has imposed an increase of 2.89 per cent, an increase of just under £30 to the new rate of £1094.67. In the unitary areas of Torbay and Plymouth, residents do not pay the county council. Instead, this year they will pay £1,227.40 to Torbay Council, an increase of just under 4 per cent. Plymouth residents will pay £1,209.71 – 3.5 per cent up on last year.

The police precept has risen by 4.94 per cent – just below the level at which it could be capped by the Government, forcing a costly recalculation process. It means the average home will pay £149.22, £7.02 more than last year. In Devon, residents will also pay £69.18 towards the fire service, up £2.60 on last year – a rise of 3.9 per cent. In Cornwall, the service is provided by the county council, and included in its tax income.

This year, an average band D property in Cornwall will pay £30.64 more than last year under the new unitary authority. But for areas such as Penwith, which previously enjoyed low council tax payments, it represents a rise of 4.9 per cent.

Penwith District Council leader Roger Harding said he had fought for the increase to be phased in, adding that people are "almost at breaking point".

Council tax bills rise to cover gold-plated public retirement funds

Published by: Mail Online

Council tax may have to rise under controversial plans to plug the black hole in public sector pensions. 

Bob Holloway, who runs the pension scheme for local government workers, has warned the gold-plated final salary schemes are no longer sustainable because people are 'refusing to die'. 

Local authorities are facing a £50billion shortfall in their pension pots after recklessly investing taxpayers' money in shares and hedge funds.Golden years at a high cost: Councils face a £50bn shortfall in their pension pots. The respected Public Service Journal reported that officials are considering a number of ways to tackle the deficit, including raising council tax.

Other options to shake-up public sector pensions include increasing employee contributions, raising the retirement age or cutting public services.

Another proposal could mean public servants receiving pensions based only on career-average earnings rather than their final salaries. Mr Holloway warned that 3.5million public sector workers - including care home staff, dinner ladies, binmen and council officials - will have to share the 'pain'.

He said urgent reform of public sector pensions was urgently need to tackle concerns about a 'pensions apartheid' between state and private sector workers. Around 90 per cent of public sector workers to retire on gold-plated final salary pensions while only five per cent of their private sector counterparts enjoyed such benefits.

Mr Holloway said: 'The Local Government Pension Scheme is under threat, something has to happen - things may even happen before a general election. 'If MPs' very generous pensions change, as has been indicated, then other public sector schemes may well receive some pain as well.‘There will need to be something more major than a sticking plaster. Unfortunately, people are refusing to die.’

City accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned that there will have to be large council tax increases, as much as £2,000 per household, to plug the pensions shortfall. Public sector workers also enjoy early retirement packages and holiday entitlement which is the envy of the private sector.

But Britain's top mandarin Sir Gus O'Donnell has warned that public services face sweeping cuts as the Government tries to rebalance the country's finances. Under new proposals launched yesterday, nearly half a million civil servants could see an end to bumper pay-offs worth an average £60,000. At the moment, some civil servants are entitled to as much as six years in severance pay - dubbed 'rewards for failure' by critics - depending on their length of service.

But from January next year, this will be curbed to a maximum of two years. In some cases, civil servants could get as little as 24 weeks pay. Gordon Brown has ordered the crack-down amid mounting public anger over the pay and perks enjoyed by public servants.

The new proposals are part of a drive to cut civil service running cost by £500million over the next three years. The Tories tonight condemned the Government for failing to tighten its belt and reduce pension payments.

Conservative Party Chairman Eric Pickles said: 'While we recognise the good work the civil service does it is unacceptable for the government to be paying people off with whopping bonuses while we are in the grip of a recession. 'The country is crying out for Labour to be responsible and  prudent. Instead we have a government that is recklessly wasting taxpayers money.'

A spokesperson for Communities & Local Government last night insisted that there were no plans to raise council tax to pay for the pensions deficit. He said: ‘The opposite is true - we've put in even greater protection for council tax payers. ‘No changes have been proposed. There is simply an informal consultation going on with scheme administrators. 

‘The Government will continue to make sure the LGPS remains fair, solvent, protected against risk, and affordable to the taxpayer.’

Council Tax Officials Pocket Perks worth Thousands

Published by: Mail OnLine

Two senior officials responsible for imposing the Government's controversial new 'patio tax' have spent tens of thousands of pounds of public funds travelling to exotic locations to find new ways of raising rates in Britain.

Officials from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), the organisation which values properties for the purpose of council tax, clocked up the five-figure bill attending conferences in Europe, Australasia, North America and Africa in order to swap tips with foreign counterparts on Big Brother-style databases and 'spy-in-the-sky' satellite surveillance systems.

The pair frequently flew business-class, stayed in luxury hotels and were treated to a round of gala dinners, leaving British taxpayers to shoulder all the costs not met by conference organisers. 

High life: The £190-a-night Sheraton Hotel in South Africa, where Valuation Office Agency (VOA) officials stayed

Director of Data Strategy Paul Sanderson, who earns £90,000 a year and has a pension pot worth £828,000, and Professor David Tretton, VOA Rating Director, who earns a similar sum, have been identified as making the most trips.

Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed the details of a VOA-inspired stealth tax of up to £600 for householders with scenic views, patios, conservatories and garages.

Topics discussed during the international meetings included Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA), the technology used in the sinister new council revaluation database.

Flashing the cash: The Sheraton Hotel has 'sweeping views, marble floors and custom-designed furnishings'

Last November, one member of VOA staff spent £1,075 on a trip to Cannes to attend a four-day symposium which included a seminar about the internet entitled 'Bring Facebook, Wikipedia and Del.icio.us in-house: Why consumer software is better than what you are paying for'. The VOA refused to name the staff member.

Meanwhile, in March, Mr Sanderson spent £2,648 of public funds on a trip to Pretoria in South Africa, attending a two-day conference organised by the International Property Tax Institute.

He gave a 20-minute speech at the event, on 'practical problems in the valuation of non-residential properties', and also chaired a 70-minute workshop.

The official hotel where speakers were advised to stay was the Sheraton Hotel. It is described as having 'sweeping views that command all of Pretoria, exquisite marble flooring, and custom-designed furnishings.' Room prices begin at 2,500 rand a night - approximately £190.

Other cities which VOA staff visited for similar events during the last financial year include Toronto, Dublin, Warsaw, Kansas City and Moscow. 

In October, Prof Tretton spent £5,137 on trips to Wellington and Adelaide, where he made two speeches. During the Adelaide visit, he attended a gala dinner for 200 at the National Wine Centre. During that same month, Mr Sanderson spent £3,718 attending an International Property Tax Institute conference in Beijing. 

He is understood to have made at least one further trip, to New York in February, although a VOA spokesman refused to confirm this. 

Suggesting that even he may be bored by the subject of tax, Mr Sanderson gave his speech with the same title - 'Practical problems in the valuation of non-residential properties' - at least twice during his international tour: at the International Property Tax Institute conference in Ottawa in May 2008 and again in Pretoria in March.

During the last financial year, the VOA spent £5.4million on travel and subsistence, up £500,000 from two years ago. In a sign that its globetrotting activities have increased, the agency recently offset 199 tons of carbon, equivalent to 475,000 air miles.

So now we all understand why we MUST pay our Rip-Off Council Tax

NOW COUNCILS PLAN STEALTH TAXES

Published by: Express

FAMILIES face a council tax bombshell after local authorities revealed the recession has slashed their income by £4billion.

As well as pushing up council tax bills, struggling local ­authorities are expected to try to sneakily claw back money by putting up the cost of everything from parking to swimming pools.

Councils have been hit by a ­“perfect storm” of calamities just when they are dealing with rising homelessness and while helping businesses struggling to survive.

The property market collapse has cut profits on development deals by £2.7billion in a year, while interest on bank deposits has ­fallen by £1.3billion, says the ­Local ­Government Association.

The loss is about a fifth of the ­total raised by council taxes.

Local government expert Dr Tony Travers says families could soon face a raft of “stealth taxes”, including extra fees for refuse collection. He said: “People will probably begin to see higher charges for ­leisure facilities, swimming pools, arts centres and so on. 

“They will see higher parking charges, they may see councils trying to find new services to charge for which could include elements of refuse collection, to encourage ­efficiency and recycling.” 

Parking alone brings in well over £1billion a year across England and could soon overtake council tax revenue in the search for new cash sources. Westminster Council now receives more from parking than it does from council tax. In all, sundry charges, including parking, bring in £10billion a year, about half as much as council tax.

Last night Shadow Local ­Gover­nment ­Secretary Caroline Spelman warned that a crackdown on wasteful expenditure was vital. She said a Conservative government would freeze council tax bills after Tory negotiators failed to prevent a one per cent pay rise last month, which cost taxpapers an extra £240million.

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But the party is hinting it could tear up the pay deals for workers ­including bin collectors, care ­assistants and dinner ladies if it wins the next election. Households have already been told they face a three per cent council tax rise next year to fill a gap created by new accountancy rules. Christine Melsom, from the ­campaign group IsItFair, said many people would refuse to pay large bills.

“It’s unaffordable,” she said. “I think a lot of people will go to court rather than pay big increases.”

The backfiring Council Tax Complaint

Published by: This is Money

When John Pigden discovered he was paying more council tax than the neighbours living in identical homes, he was determined to right the injustice. The 69-year-old protested that his council tax was too high and the discrepancy was speedily corrected - but unfortunately not to his benefit. In fact, the pensioner succeeded only in costing his neighbours nearly £30 a month in council tax, after officials ruled it was their properties which were in the wrong tax band. 

'I wouldn't have thought I am the most popular man in the street now,' Mr Pigden said yesterday as he recalled how his efforts to cut his bills had spectacularly backfired. He discovered that out of a dozen identical three-bedroom detached houses in Crest Way in Portslade, East Sussex, only his and a second property were classified as band E. The other ten, which were built in 1992, had been classified in band D. 

The former marketing manager appealed to the Valuation Office Agency against the banding to claim back 15 years of overpayment. Officers visited the road and ruled he was paying the correct amount of council tax - but increased his neighbours' bills by £298 a year from £1,341 to the £1,639 cost for a band E property. 

As council tax is paid over ten months, the increase equated to a monthly rise of £29.80. Mr Pigden said: 'If the Valuation Office has managed to get the majority of the houses on a street wrong there must be an awful lot of people paying the wrong amount. 

'For 15 years no one has noticed that identical houses are paying different council taxes - it's absurd. It's unfair on the two of us who for the last 15 years, through no fault of our own, have been paying a higher rate than anyone else. The whole tax system is unfair. 

Mr Pigden, who lives with wife Susan, 55, discovered the discrepancy when he was talking about the cost of his council tax with a neighbour, who then told him he was paying a cheaper rate. 

He then discovered that only Brenda and Kevin Humphrey, both 52, were also paying the band E rate. Mrs Humphrey, who lives two doors away, said: 'It's quite ironic that John was trying to save us some money but has ended up costing the other neighbours cash instead.' 

Steve Wells, 36, who lives opposite Mr Pigden, is one of those affected by the increased levy. He said: 'The first I heard about it was when John said he was in a different banding and I thought he would get some money back, but that's not what happened. I'm not particularly happy to have to pay this extra money. 

But he added: 'John has done exactly what I would have done so I don't bear him any animosity. He thought he was paying too much and investigated it. Single mother-of-two Catherine Biggs, 46, a part-time teacher, will also have her tax increased. 'I'm really angry,' she said. 'It just seems so unfair that we've had this increase put on us by one person complaining and then it going the wrong way.' 

The under-charged residents will not have to pay the arrears on the shortfall. A Valuation Office spokesman said: 'We have a statutory duty to maintain the accuracy of the list of council tax bands and, as part of our review of Crest Way, have increased the band of ten similar homes in the street from D to E. The residents of these homes have been notified in writing.