Fears council tax may rocket (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)
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Fears council tax may rocket
8:00am Tuesday 5th February 2013 in News By Laura Shack
COUNCIL taxpayers could see the amount they pay to their parish council rocket from next year or local services hit hard due to changes in government funding.
In Cirencester, taxpayers are already forking out around £5 extra this coming financial year to the town council and this is a common trend across the district.
In part, it is because parish councils are squirreling away extra reserves in preparation for "very testing times" on the horizon.
This year, central government has handed over responsibility for distributing parish council’s tax grants – at a slightly lower rate – to district councils and unitary authorities.
Cotswold District Council made the decision to pass these grants on fairly to towns and parishes across the district, factoring in further tax gains for areas where more people claim benefits such as Cirencester.
But CDC is not obliged to take this action and there are fears that next year the council will hold on to the cash and parish councils will lose out, with taxpayers forced to fill the gap.
Based on figures released at this month’s CDC cabinet meeting, Cirencester Town Council would lose out on around £90,000, Tetbury would lose £27,000 and Stow-on-the-Wold would lose around £12,000.
In addition to this crippling risk, central government could also force parish councils to cap their portion of council tax from next year.
While this would mean residents would not see council tax skyrocket, it could mean that vital local services such as youth provision and litter collection get the chop instead.
At this month’s Cirencester Town Council meeting, chief executive officer Andrew Tubb said the council needed to increase its reserves in preparation for cuts.
"This council and its officers are going to have very testing times ahead in being able to deliver the services that this council believes it is doing in the best interest of the community," he said.
"Next year it could be quite challenging if we’re capped or we don’t receive the grant."
Comments(2)
Olly Cromwell
says...
7:45pm Tue 5 Feb 13
Cirencester Town Council will be funding new CCTV coverage for the Town. This was a service previously funded by Cotswold District Council before Lynden and his Tory lackeys slashed the funding by 50% BEHIND CLOSED DOORS leaving the public vulnerable.
In an ironic way the Tories reap what they sow as a youngster was attacked during this period whilst the CCTV was not being manned.
That youngster is now Deputy Mayor..
David Broad says...
1:33pm Tue 5 Feb 13
It sounds like Cirencester is in a bit of a mudde here, though the changes caused some head scratching at Chedworth as well.
Previously all the Parish precept came from the Parish Council Tax but now there is a Government Grant providing part so Parishes set their precept and then deduct the grant to get the figure they require from Council Tax. There are no proposals to cap the Parish Council Tax, under Localism the Parishes will merely have to hold a referendum of local residents if they wish to incease the Council Tax by an excessive amount and this has not been implemented yet,
It will be local people who decide through referendum whether excessive Council Tax rises should be capped, not the Government. Localism..