# Council tax !



## coupe-sport (May 7, 2002)

Supposed to be rising again...

Why not base it on what you 'take out' of the community....


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## jonhaff (May 20, 2002)

personally i think the poll tax was better, why should only the home owners put towards services.
I think every individual should pay towards services.... in theroy it a lot fairer.....
why did they all march and protest about it?


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## scoTTy (May 6, 2002)

Totally agree.

Why should I pay the same as a neighbour with three kids just because I bought a similar house?

Poll tax was far fairer.


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## PaulS (Jun 15, 2002)

> Totally agree.
> 
> Why should I pay the same as a neighbour with three kids just because I bought a similar house?
> 
> Poll tax was far fairer.


Agree, it was fairer.

The anarchists defeated the poll tax.

But you can't opt out of contributing to society, can you? You would still pay towards local hospitals, or schooling, even if you did't have children?


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## kingcutter (Aug 1, 2003)

council tax is ok it's only when you start paying town centre rates you know you are really being stuffed,and you get fuck all for it.


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## scoTTy (May 6, 2002)

> Agree, it was fairer. Â
> 
> The anarchists defeated the poll tax.
> 
> But you can't opt out of contributing to society, can you? You would still pay towards local hospitals, or schooling, even if you did't have children?


I don't want to opt out and I'm not one of those that say "I don't have kids so why should I pay for schooling". It's just I fail to see what the down side was to poll tax.


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## SteveS (Oct 20, 2003)

> I don't want to opt out and I'm not one of those that say "I don't have kids so why should I pay for schooling". It's just I fail to see what the down side was to poll tax.


Oooh don't start me . Completely agree with this. Sadly IMO the poll tax was doomed because those that would have (rightly) had to pay it, but didn't pay the old "rates", *did* have the vote. As a vocal minority they also had the time to go rioting because.....
answers on a postcard :


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

It keeps going up yearly and I don't see any way it is going to stop.

But I don't expect it to be as high as last year's increase of 17%! 

I just hope it is not more than 3-4%! Anybody seen any figures for this year?


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## scott28tt (Jul 30, 2002)

I've just moved to Hampshire, and I saw something on the local news last week talking about a 10% rise for next year 

I agree with most of the comments so far, what's the size of your house got to do with anything, surely number of people is fairer ???


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## jonhaff (May 20, 2002)

werid but im in st albans and my C tax went down 2% ?! although its going back up next year ....


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## mike_bailey (May 7, 2002)

What pisses me off is that part of my Council Tax goes to the GLA and I live in the final mile of Middlesex. I can't see what Ken's done to improve my village, we don't even have a Dome or an Olympic stadium.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

On avg how much do Southerners pay for CT?


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

> What pisses me off is that part of my Council Tax goes to the GLA and I live in the final mile of Middlesex. I can't see what Ken's done to improve my village, we don't even have a Dome or an Olympic stadium.


He's done fuck all to improve London either. Unless you're a bus driver.


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

> On avg how much do Southerners pay for CT?


Depends on where you live. Last place I lived it cost Â£2K a year or thereabouts. Where I am now it's Â£600. Where I am now's slightly bigger and worth more. Generally speaking (could be wrong though) labour run councils are the most expensive, Tory the least.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Â£600 - and I take it you have a property that is worth more than Â£100k....... :-/

This year a Â£40k household can expect to pay IRO Â£1100


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Â£2K. No kids and I never use the library. Buy hey, someone has to cross-subsidise all the brats, crusties, old people, lesbian one parent families, immigrants etc. Plus I might not always enjoy same status and have to join one of these groups at some point...


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## SteveS (Oct 20, 2003)

But this is what's so ridiculous about it. In the south (particularly London) we have to find ridiculous sums simply to get on the property ladder. Yes salaries are a bit higher but we still have checkout people at sainsburys (as an eg) who have to live somewhere. You couldn't buy a garage for Â£40k round my way (or more to the point the land on which to put it).

Most of the things that the CT goes on are not related to property values at all.

Are you saying that someone in a Â£40k property in Hull shoud pay a tenth of what someone in a Â£400k property in Highgate does for local services? I suspect that both properties would probably be about the same size. And that on average the people living in the properties would receive the same in local services.


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## scott28tt (Jul 30, 2002)

SteveS,

Don't forget that although the property price as of 1st April 1991 is used to band a property, each council still gets to set it's charges accordingly.

So, a Band A property in Highgate will pay a different amount of council tax to a Band A property in Hull.

Mind you, I can't imagine that Highgate has many Band A properties to begin with :


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

> Â£2K. No kids and I never use the library. Â Buy hey, someone has to cross-subsidise all the brats, crusties, old people, lesbian one parent families, immigrants etc. Â Plus I might not always enjoy same status and have to join one of these groups at some point...


Actually I think I am going to make an offer to pay _more_ CT. I just know that the Litttle People will be grateful.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

> Â£2K. No kids and I never use the library. Â Buy hey, someone has to cross-subsidise all the brats, crusties, old people, lesbian one parent families, immigrants etc. Â Plus I might not always enjoy same status and have to join one of these groups at some point...


Can't really see you as a lesbian.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

> Can't really see you as a lesbian.


I dunno. Perhaps I should practice with one and see how it goes.


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## PaulS (Jun 15, 2002)

4 bed house was >Â£2000 last year, this year 2 bed house is Â£1200, yet we use identical services Â 



> Actually I think I am going to make an offer to pay _more_ Â CT. Â


Do you want to pay mine, Gary? Â ;D


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## SteveS (Oct 20, 2003)

> SteveS,
> 
> Don't forget that although the property price as of 1st April 1991 is used to band a property, each council still gets to set it's charges accordingly.
> 
> ...


Sorry should have been clearer, banding, yes of course . I was just trying to understand what Saintt meant by Â£40k = Â£1,100 a year.

I guess what I'm alluding to is that if it must be property related, people with a similar type property (whatever it's value) should pay a similar rate. In other words if you have a higher standard of living (i.e. by living in a 6 bed detached rather than a studio flat) you pay more. Of course in practice they spend millions surveying it all and still get it wrong. :

Personally I think it's wrong anyway. Everyone uses the services so everyone should pay. Still that caused riots when last proposed so what do I know? :


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## scott28tt (Jul 30, 2002)

I'm even more pissed off at how they value new properties nowadays.

We've just moved a brand new 3-bed 3-storey semi, it's been valued as Band F for council tax.

Now this is based on it's value that it would have sold for on the open market 12.5 years ago, not taking into account natural rises in the housing market since then :-/ WTF 

We're gonna appeal, there are other houses in our area, 4-bed detached that are Band E that are now currently on the market for 10% more than we paid for our house a month ago, so if anything our house should be Band D or E at most 

I have found out that they are reviewing the bandings in 2005, it's gonna be mayhem and riots all over again


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

> 4 bed house was >Â£2000 last year, this year 2 bed house is Â£1200, yet we use identical services Â
> 
> Do you want to pay mine, Gary? Â ;D


Well we are getting into the seaon of good will, so why not? ;D

ps Do you know if you throw your other half out, you can get a 25% reduction in CT bill? Worth having.


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## scoTTy (May 6, 2002)

> I guess what I'm alluding to is that if it must be property related, people with a similar type property (whatever it's value) should pay a similar rate.
> 
> ...
> 
> Everyone uses the services so everyone should pay.


Surely these two statements contradict each other. One says it should be based on what you earn i.e. another stealth tax on income and the other says it should be paid by the individuals. :-/

Maybe I misunderstand you but it can't be both. ???


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## silvertt (Nov 5, 2003)

Ah council tax.Don't you love it.I had a nice little 20% increase this year.Still I do get my bin emptied once a week although half the rubbish is usually strewn up the road.I live in Portsmouth where we have serious social and crime problems,a lot of which are directly related to the very large asylum population and of course its the second most violent city in the country after Liverpool apparently.So they ain't spending the money on crime prevention and public safety then?


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

I thought that the valuation bands are different in each area. :-/


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## SteveS (Oct 20, 2003)

> Surely these two statements contradict each other. One says it should be based on what you earn i.e. another stealth tax on income and the other says it should be paid by the individuals. Â :-/
> 
> Maybe I misunderstand you but it can't be both. Â ???


Sorry Scotty, as usual what I think is a clear post, erm, isn't :-[. Must learn to express myself better :.

I believe that everyone should pay a flat rate for services assuming that they avail themselves of those services equally. I don't believe in any way that there should be a stealth income tax, we already have one of those and don't need another. To my way of thinking the poll tax was a reasonably fair way of achieving this, although it seems that I was amongst the quiet (probable) majority in this view and we came second in the influence stakes once the rioting started. So much for democracy.

If we "have" to have a system based on property values and a sliding scale of ability to pay, then I don't think that southerners should pay more because their houses are worth more. That's it. I think :-/.


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## Sim (Mar 7, 2003)

> In the south (particularly London) we have to find ridiculous sums simply to get on the property ladder.


I am moving on Friday and my council tax will double  and the house is only costing us about one third more. I live in the north and have been told it is the most expensive in the country. So what do we get? Tony Blair and George Bush eating at my local and who pays for the security and the mess the media leaves?

Tony please move.


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## Dont I Recognise You (Oct 10, 2003)

> I am moving on Friday and my council tax will double Â  and the house is only costing us about one third more. I live in the north and have been told it is the most expensive in the country. So what do we get? Tony Blair and George Bush eating at my local and who pays for the security and the mess the media leaves?
> 
> Tony please move.


preferably about, oh, say, 2000 miles.
In any direction.


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## scott28tt (Jul 30, 2002)

> I thought that the valuation bands are different in each area. Â :-/


They are, 1 for England and 1 for Wales 

http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/bands ... _wales.htm


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