Friday, April 13, 2007

Homes to be revalued for council tax

Residents of Gateshead could be in for a shock if, as expected, all homes are revalued by the government to decide which band they should be in for council tax.

Homes were last valued in 1990 but a government review of council tax, published in March 2007, said properties should be revalued in the near future.

In Wales, revaluation took place 3 years ago and a third of properties went up at least one band, resulting in a council tax bills rising by nearly 20% at a stroke.

With both Labour and the Conservatives committed to keeping council tax, Liberal Democrats have stepped up their campaign for it to be scrapped.

Councillor Yvonne McNicol, who represents Dunston Hill and Whickham East, said, "Council tax is not based on ability to pay. It is unfair and will become far worse when people’s homes are revalued. It should be replaced by a local income tax based on ability to pay, a much fairer system. Revaluation will be crippling for many households in Gateshead."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Get your facts right, son. The legislation to introduce the Council Tax wasn't even introduced until 1992. Homes were valued after that date, based on their 1991 value.

Secondly, a revaluation has been ruled out until at least 2011, and sadly even that looks unlikely.

As a local councillor I'm surprised your so ignorant of how the council is funded. Not that surprised though.

Jonathan Wallace said...

I'm not your "son"! It's amazing how swaggering and patronising political opponents can be when they hide behind the wall of anonimity.

You will also find the legislation was announced and passed in 1991. The first provisions (allowing revaluation) were enacted in 1992. So what? That didn't stop the government using valuations from an earlier year.

And council tax, with or without revaluation, remains a system that is not based on ability to pay. No amount of revaluation is going to alter that.

George Dutton said...

"With both Labour and the Conservatives committed to keeping council tax, Liberal Democrats have stepped up their campaign for it to be scrapped."

At least one of the main parties is moving ahead with more sane policies.

Of course us true socialists have been advocating this idea for years.

Anonymous said...

So just how do the lib dems hope to raise the cash for the n.a.s.s in the n/east then without hiking up the council tax or doing away with it altogether just what measure do they wish to bring in bearing in mind the Liverpool Lib Dem councillor/Candidate is targeting the POLISH Migrant society to keep out the BNP.To be here for 3 MONTHS (YES 3 MONTHS) before they are eligible to vote within our so called democratic country. I HAD TO BE HERE 18 YEARS BEFORE I COULD VOTE AS DID ALL TRUE BRITISH PEOPLE . Regardless of ethnicity.

Anonymous said...

By the way good luck to your candidate in Lobley hill/Bensham I cant wait to see the look of disdain on the candidates daughters face as I notified her a few months ago that her father was going to be unemployed this time next year. I hope your candidate wins she has put the time in and deserves it. It's also nice to see you got the candidates name spelt correctly for the Dunston/Teams ward this year. SPELL CHECK IS A WONDERFUL THING (OR did you meet him before this election):-)

Anonymous said...

I should have said LIEBOUR Candidates daughter's face.Shouldn't I?

Anonymous said...

I'm not your political opponent, son. But I do plead guilty tp the swaggering. How easily baited!

I'm merely a disenfranchised member of the electorate. Hence I reserve the right to remain anonymous.

I merely pointed out that you had your facts wrong, appearing to be far quicker to promote your own views than to fully understand the issues.

It makes me wonder what else our elected representatives misunderstand or deliberately exaggerate in their pursuit of popularity.

So, if you want my vote, get your facts right and make a proper argument rather than presenting something that looks like its been cut and pasted from the Daily Mail.

Just my 2p.