Will 1.95 per cent council tax hike get the go-ahead for Poole? (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Will 1.95 per cent council tax hike get the go-ahead for Poole?
12:00pm Monday 25th February 2013 in News By Diana Henderson
NUMBERS GAME: Poole Civic Centre
POOLE residents could face a 1.95 per cent hike in council tax if the minority Conservative administration gets its recommendations through full council tomorrow.
It will be a numbers game on the night with Borough of Poole made up of 20 Conservatives, 18 Liberal Democrats and four Poole People councillors.
Council leader Cllr Elaine Atkinson will tell members that, unlike neighbouring Bournemouth, her administration wants to raise council tax to balance the budget.
It would mean a weekly rise for residents of 41p for a band A property, 45p for band D, rising to £1.23 for band H if the proposal is voted through.
“We are declining the government’s offer of a freeze grant, equivalent to one per cent of council tax,” she said. “The cap they have put on is two per cent.
“To take it would leave a deficit of more than £500,000 in 2013/14 and in perpetuity as this grant is for two years only.”
She said: “Even doing that we will still have the lowest council tax in Dorset.”
But not increasing council tax would mean having to find an extra £500,000 on top of cuts, savings and efficiencies, which have seen the £95million net budget of 2009/10 slashed by £32m over the last three years.
“We have had to find one third of our budget with on-going savings up until this point,” said Adam Richens, acting head of financial services.
“There will be more to come over the next few years.”
One in 10 posts has been cut, including those at top management level and continuing pressures on the council range from the ageing population to the baby boom.
Residents claiming council tax benefit will have to pay 8.5 per cent of council tax after the borough accepted a transition grant from government, while Bournemouth Council has set the figure at 20 per cent.
Cllr Atkinson has plans for that £500,000, investing it in growth. “I believe by investing half-a-million we can achieve match funding or more.
“Poole will benefit from about £1m,” she said.
Meanwhile she continues to lobby government over poorly funded Poole.
“We need lasting solutions, not quick fixes,” said chief executive John McBride.
“There isn’t a single solution to this problem.”
But leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group Mike Brooke said they had proposed an alternative budget with a zero per cent increase, which he says still balances the books for the next two years taking into account the ‘freeze grants’ on offer from the government.
He told the Echo: “People are being hit very hard by just about everything at the moment.
“With the reforms to the council tax benefit system – where people not paying council tax before will now have to pay some – what we call the working poor, on a low wage and just on the margins of benefits, will be hit twice.
“We are saying that is unfair.”
Comments(28)
j neptune esq
says...
12:35pm Mon 25 Feb 13
2) politics is not the x factor
jobsworthwatch
says...
12:43pm Mon 25 Feb 13
j neptune esq wrote:1) Everyone has access to a PC at their library.
1) no there isn't
2) politics is not the x factor
2) Comparing politics to the x factor is an insult to the x factor.
skydriver
says...
12:49pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Every time I read something in the papers about councils or councillors I wonder at what how much more they can damage the fabric of our society. They all appear to be tarred with the same gene of stupidity, will they ever get the message ...................I doubt it.
muscliffman
says...
1:15pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Oink!!
Branksome Boy
says...
1:24pm Mon 25 Feb 13
sea poole
says...
1:26pm Mon 25 Feb 13
BIGTONE
says...
1:52pm Mon 25 Feb 13
sea poole wrote:Haaaaaa top secret.
Can someone inform me what the 'reserves' figure is for Poole? Is that not a consideration?
They won't release any true figure cos they will be lynched.
Sat on all that money. How would they get more?
They are a clown hall so they will pick a figure out of the ether.
sea poole
says...
1:57pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Tripod
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2:17pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Holland82
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2:17pm Mon 25 Feb 13
djd2013
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2:23pm Mon 25 Feb 13
harrythered
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2:30pm Mon 25 Feb 13
losthope
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2:32pm Mon 25 Feb 13
A cull of the second sort would save cash and remove the need for a tax rise without any real impact on services. We could even raise some extra money because I can't be the only one who'd pay for a chance to watch some of them trying to ask for services and being treated in the way they've been treating others for years.
muscliffman
says...
3:03pm Mon 25 Feb 13
harrythered wrote:Agree, but be careful not to let ANY of the present incumbents become involved in this vital and now inevitable restructure.
Merge Bournemouth Poole and Christchurch Councils and save millions. Why do we need so many seperate councils and so much duplication of costs and services.
The current fat-cats are too set in their ways, hence this rise proposal. They will only see more cream slurping opportunities in this merger and not the achievable efficiencies that would benefit us all - the paying public.
Seabeam
says...
3:19pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Make second home owners pay the full rate, that would more than cover the half million.
Start charging for chalets on places like Rockley Park, many of these are occupied all year round as could be seen when it snowed and on many of the roofs the snow had melted wherethe heating had been on.
The council tax payer funded a new road through there and spent out on harbour defences recently.
These places attract people in the summer who use our facilities, their dogs foul parks, they drop litter all at the expense of locals.
There are a variety of ways to raise money without increasing locals taxes.
aboobica
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3:42pm Mon 25 Feb 13
lilliputian
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5:47pm Mon 25 Feb 13
sea poole
says...
6:15pm Mon 25 Feb 13
manyogie
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6:56pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Muffin39
says...
8:47pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Dr Strangelove
says...
9:04pm Mon 25 Feb 13
BIGTONE wrote:They are holding onto the reserves because when the interest rate rises sharply they will get lots of interest. Have you seen how many councils are holding a pile because at some point it will go up I don't have a crystal ball to when but it won't be that long now the pound is tanking.
sea poole wrote:Haaaaaa top secret.
Can someone inform me what the 'reserves' figure is for Poole? Is that not a consideration?
They won't release any true figure cos they will be lynched.
Sat on all that money. How would they get more?
They are a clown hall so they will pick a figure out of the ether.
Dr Strangelove
says...
9:07pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Muffin39 wrote:But no one forced them to buy a second home. Maybe if they sold their second homes there wouldn't be a shortage anymore?
Whoever commented that second home owners should pay the full council tax should keep themselves up to date. From April second home owners ARE paying full council tax although they don't use all the council services! ie schools, social services etc and they can't vote in local elections to select who they are paying for.
nottingham
says...
10:25pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Both Bournemouth and Poole are equally guilty of wasting money.
A new merged Council fewer Councillors and New Top Management with Commercial expertise
Muffin39
says...
11:06pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Dr Strangelove wrote:I am correcting an error in a fact quoted not judging people with second homes thats their business.There are 3 inexpensive flats in our block for sale and has been for for a long time so I don't know about a shortage
Muffin39 wrote:But no one forced them to buy a second home. Maybe if they sold their second homes there wouldn't be a shortage anymore?
Whoever commented that second home owners should pay the full council tax should keep themselves up to date. From April second home owners ARE paying full council tax although they don't use all the council services! ie schools, social services etc and they can't vote in local elections to select who they are paying for.
Victor_Meldrew_Lives!
says...
7:48am Tue 26 Feb 13
Always harping on about the poor settlement they get from the government. That might be a fact but that will always be the case, just button it and get on with it.
I used to be a council employee years ago and apart from there being a lot of deadwood there at all levels they massively waste money on purchasing.
Not buying the best value for money but jumping through many hoops and red tape to buy from 'agreed' suppliers.
That is not how I run the household finances nor is it I suspect how the majority of their 'customers' do.
YES us Poole residents are customers who have no choice but to pay for your services. If you operated like a normal business you would have no return customers and would be bankrupt.
skydriver
says...
8:24am Tue 26 Feb 13
manyogie wrote:Money not well spent, we should all speak out about the sums of money being paid throughout the country on these fees it's not right, what does he really do for this pocket money? Em very little apart from making yet again daft decisions,
Cllr Atkinson's salary has risen by nearly 100% in 4 years, from 18K to 32K, when Councillors stop this consumate show of greed, then they can preach.
l'anglais
says...
2:56pm Tue 26 Feb 13
Dr Strangelove wrote:It has nothing to do with second home ownership.
Muffin39 wrote:But no one forced them to buy a second home. Maybe if they sold their second homes there wouldn't be a shortage anymore?
Whoever commented that second home owners should pay the full council tax should keep themselves up to date. From April second home owners ARE paying full council tax although they don't use all the council services! ie schools, social services etc and they can't vote in local elections to select who they are paying for.
Those who own a second home generally earn good money and pay higher taxes and the locals where their second home is located.
Remember only 20 per cent of the councils budget comes from Council tax collection, the rest comes from central government.
The issue here is that not everyone can afford to buy a house because the demand is greater than the supply.
It should be a birth right to be have access to a home once a person starts working and pays taxes.
jobsworthwatch says...
12:32pm Mon 25 Feb 13