[Brighton] B&H council tax up by 5.1%

[Weststander]

Local councils have had to endure limits on increases for a decade now, meaning that they've had to drastically reduce the services offered over that period (all because of central government diktat -- and central government has far too much power over local government). Increases also have to factor in things like inflation.
I'd suggest that our political energies would be more productively directed towards the issue of income and, more particularly, wealth distribution and inequalities and then the occasional above-inflation council tax rise would become less of a controversial issue.

An idea gathering support is to expand the number of council tax bands. By breaking up band H into H, I and J, the latter two paying substantially more council tax. With the large number of high value properties in places such as Brighton and Hove, it would make a significant difference.

The beauty of the tax is that it’s very hard to avoid for home owners .... the property isn’t going anywhere, it’s owners are known.

I think a shadow cabinet member discussed this recently.

 

[vegster]

In Sunny Worthing my bill increased like this

WSCC +4.99%
WSCC Social Care + 3%
Worthing Borough Council +2%
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner +7.5%


So when Johnson says " He " is putting 50,000 Police officers back on the streets, remember, it was his party that cut them in the first place and its us that are paying to get them back !

 

[Seasidesage]

The system of funding both nationally and locally is broken. Above inflation increases for a lesser service is unsustainable and until the central government actually addresses tax avoidance this will get worse as local tax take from rates will fall and fall. As is usual the status quo will continue until a crisis forces change....

Too many vested interests in the establishment to address the inequalities in the system far better to keep making mega rich people richer...

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Gotta pay for NHS pay rise somehow, so I am fully behind any rise.

On a serious note, what do people expect, Brexit, Covid, loss of income over the past year for the council on numerous fronts including parking.
It would be madness to think it would stay the same level, it rises every year, hardly a surprise is it.

I’m struggling to see the connection between Brighton Council tax rises and Brexit. Surely, social care is the biggest rising cost ? There is consensus on expanding this service.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

In Sunny Worthing my bill increased like this

WSCC +4.99%
WSCC Social Care + 3%
Worthing Borough Council +2%
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner +7.5%


So when Johnson says " He " is putting 50,000 Police officers back on the streets, remember, it was his party that cut them in the first place and its us that are paying to get them back !

Did you think political leaders pay for their policies out of their own pocket ? If so, Jeremy Corbyn must be one of the super rich....

 

[Da Man Clay]

In Sunny Worthing my bill increased like this

WSCC +4.99%
WSCC Social Care + 3%
Worthing Borough Council +2%
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner +7.5%


So when Johnson says " He " is putting 50,000 Police officers back on the streets, remember, it was his party that cut them in the first place and its us that are paying to get them back !

20,000 - and that 20,000 is ring fenced funding from central government. It’s not however paying for the additional costs that go with recruiting that many offices mind. The rise in council tax is to make up the rest of the short fall for that and from government over the last decade.

 

[vegster]

20,000 - and that 20,000 is ring fenced funding from central government. It’s not however paying for the additional costs that go with recruiting that many offices mind. The rise in council tax is to make up the rest of the short fall for that and from government over the last decade.

Oops ! Yes, 20,000 police and 50,000 nurses, I got that one mixed up ! Indeed you are correct, the government cut central funding to councils along with a whole lot of other parts of society in order to bail out the bankers, of course no bankers, ie the real powerbrokers suffered, just us, the ones who did not cause the crash. Strange how the money to cover the monumental costs of Covid are so easily covered by government ?

 

[jessiejames]

Need to contact council, I will offer to pay them 80% of my bill. Any chance they will agree?

 

[Pavilionaire]

This government makes a manifesto commitment not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT, people vote for them thinking they're keeping taxes down yet we then suffer a whopping increase in council tax.

The Tories have passed the buck, all the pain and negativity on local councils. The NHS workers were insulted with a 1% pay rise, and this gets followed up by a 5% council tax rise.

For many people, their council tax bill will exceed their personal tax / National Insurance bill, and that is shocking.

The whole thing is dysfunctional, and you can guarantee council tax will continue to rise by 5% per annum for the next decade as this government will be desperate to minimise personal taxation. When will people wake up to the fact they are being mugged off year after year?

 

[Sirnormangall]

20,000 - and that 20,000 is ring fenced funding from central government. It’s not however paying for the additional costs that go with recruiting that many offices mind. The rise in council tax is to make up the rest of the short fall for that and from government over the last decade.

Yes, I think a fair chunk of the policing costs are to fund the pension scheme, though I don’t think the scheme is as generous as it used to be.

 

[LamieRobertson]

£2,054.22

Just the first of many increases as everyone looks to recover income lost due to Covid.

If only I could have a 5.34% increase in my income.

Which is relevant to quite a lot of us....increasing my income by 0.1% this year would be lovely ...I recall last years was way over inflation

 

[Machiavelli]

An idea gathering support is to expand the number of council tax bands. By breaking up band H into H, I and J, the latter two paying substantially more council tax. With the large number of high value properties in places such as Brighton and Hove, it would make a significant difference.

The beauty of the tax is that it’s very hard to avoid for home owners .... the property isn’t going anywhere, it’s owners are known.

I think a shadow cabinet member discussed this recently.

The principle of shifting the tax burden from income to wealth/assets and unnecessary/damaging consumption ought to be widely accepted. There are interested players challenging this principle, and doing so effectively.

 

[dazzer6666]

4.9% up in Mid Sussex. No surprise.

Increases (75% of the overall total is the WSCC bit) :

2% WSCC
3% Adult social care
7.5% Police
2.9% MSDC
0% BHTC

 

[beorhthelm]

The principle of shifting the tax burden from income to wealth/assets and unnecessary/damaging consumption ought to be widely accepted. There are interested players challenging this principle, and doing so effectively.

lower income tax, rising VAT?

 

[Weststander]

The principle of shifting the tax burden from income to wealth/assets and unnecessary/damaging consumption ought to be widely accepted. There are interested players challenging this principle, and doing so effectively.

The age old argument against that with council tax, is that an elderly couple might live in a large £2m house, use few council resources and just happen to live in a house which has grown 10x in value not through design. That they are asset rich, cash poor.

I’ve known and still do, many folk in Sussex who live in incredibly valuable homes. They’re not cash poor. For starters, having the ability to spend huge sums each year in maintaining their homes and sometimes estates.

I don’t go as far as a Marxist spite tax route, imho the increased taxes need to be reasonable, not a means by the back door of pushing wealthy people out of their home. The main winners from that would just be the next wave of rich including Chinese and Russian investors.

 

[LamieRobertson]

4.9% up in Mid Sussex. No surprise.

Increases (75% of the overall total is the WSCC bit) :

2% WSCC
3% Adult social care
7.5% Police
2.9% MSDC
0% BHTC

Police element was high last year

 

[beorhthelm]

The age old argument against that with council tax, is that an elderly couple might live in a large £2m house, use few council resources and just happen to live in a house which has grown 10x in value not through design. That they are asset rich, cash poor.

time to get them to move out of the £2m house, downsize, free up a family-sized home and have cash to spare. government takes a cut for their trouble. everyone wins.

 

[BenGarfield]

This government makes a manifesto commitment not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT, people vote for them thinking they're keeping taxes down yet we then suffer a whopping increase in council tax.

The Tories have passed the buck, all the pain and negativity on local councils. The NHS workers were insulted with a 1% pay rise, and this gets followed up by a 5% council tax rise.

For many people, their council tax bill will exceed their personal tax / National Insurance bill, and that is shocking.

The whole thing is dysfunctional, and you can guarantee council tax will continue to rise by 5% per annum for the next decade as this government will be desperate to minimise personal taxation. When will people wake up to the fact they are being mugged off year after year?

None of this austerity is necessary. Government finance in the UK does not work like a household. National Insurance contributions and Tax do not pay for government spending. The government spends first by keystrokes into its central bank accounts, then taxes. The purpose of taxation is just to destroy the money that the government has issued. Thats the sequence in a country with a fiat currency such as ours. Central government does not have to borrow from anyone as it creates the money in the first place. As long as the economy is not overheating and inflation seems likely the goverment can spend as much as it likes to provision itself. There is no need to tax the rich to get their money. The purpose of taxing the rich is because they are too rich and exert undue political influence. The story for local government or countries wihout their own sovereign currency is different, they do have to spend from taxation or borrow. Central government should give local authorities enough to provide for all local services if the local tax is too much of a burden on the local taxpayers. Provided the real resources exist within the economy - which they do in the UK - all this can be done.

 

[Bakero]

lower income tax, rising VAT?

No money back, no guarantee?

 

[beorhthelm]

None of this austerity is necessary. Government finance in the UK does not work like a household. National Insurance contributions and Tax do not pay for government spending. The government spends first by keystrokes into its central bank accounts, then taxes. The purpose of taxation is just to destroy the money that the government has issued. Thats the sequence in a country with a fiat currency such as ours. Central government does not have to borrow from anyone as it creates the money in the first place. As long as the economy is not overheating and inflation seems likely the goverment can spend as much as it likes to provision itself. There is no need to tax the rich to get their money. The purpose of taxing the rich is because they are too rich and exert undue political influence. The story for local government or countries wihout their own sovereign currency is different, they do have to spend from taxation or borrow. Central government should give local authorities enough to provide for all local services if the local tax is too much of a burden on the local taxpayers. Provided the real resources exist within the economy - which they do in the UK - all this can be done.

this is of course all utter nonsense. if government didnt have to borrow they wouldnt, yet every one from UK, Germany, Japan, China, US, to Argentina does so.