Don’t hit the poor on council tax rise
Priority should be to protect those who can’t afford increase
In this space last week, I was quoting the words of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. “You can’t always get what you want” was the theme – and, if my emails are anything to go by, the Rolling Stones slant on equality certainly struck a chord!
But in this week’s epistle, I’m going all biblical on you.
Yes folks, I’m moving from rock’s leviathans to the Book of Corinthians – and the part of the Old Testament that’s all about sowing and reaping – and reaping and sowing.
So, what’s all this got to do with South Ayrshire’s 4.75% hike in council tax?
Well, everything really.
As King Solomon put it, “If you sow injustice – you will reap disaster”.
And when it comes to our whopping local tax increase – that’s exactly where South Ayrshire Council sit at the moment.
They are about to reap the maximum increase allowed by central government – the true figure will be nearer the ceiling of 4.79 per cent increase.
And if they start sowing the cash wisely – they’ll be forgiven for it.
The local rates hike comes as no real shock – it was more “hello council tax rise – we’ve been expecting you”.
Since the Nats took over Holyrood, council tax increases have been frozen, then thawed to a three per increase - and now rising to almost five per cent.
But when you saw the financial state every local authority in Scotland was getting into – even the ones run by people who knew what they were doing! – a loosening of the purse strings was inevitable.
South Ayrshire’s tax payers now face annual rises of between £ 39 and £ 144 - quite literally, depending on how posh your house is!
To be frank, that’s an amount that most of us can afford.
But where South Ayrshire will need Kings Solomon’s wisdom is how they help those who can’t afford it.
For our most vulnerable, £ 39 is a family’s food bill for a fortnight.
And for the rest of us, we would all be much happier knowing where our money was going before the rises hit in April.
We can live with the reaping - as long as there’s fairness in the sowing.
For most council employees for example, there hasn’t been an annual pay increase of anything like 4.79 per cent since Methuselah wore short trousers.
There isn’t a teacher, dinner- lady, janitor, office worker or recycling bin operative earning the equivalent of what their pay packet bought a decade ago.
Indeed, the only people who seem to be on inflation- proof council contracts are the councillors themselves!
But South Ayrshire will be sowing injustice, and reaping disaster, if they think hiking council tax by 4.79% - and then offering paltry wage increases or even no increases at all – is how 2019 is going to pan out!
In the next few weeks, SAC will be responsible for the 2019/ 20 council budget.
If they want to pick an average
£ 100 a year out of everyone’s pocket – then everyone is entitled to some kind of detail on where they money is going to be spent.
First up should be some protection and support for those who cannot afford any increase.
Next up should be some form of guarantee of no compulsory redundancies in any council department.
But will our councillors include a wage increase for themselves?
Get yourself a stack of bibles and swear on it.
The only people on inflation- proof council contracts seem to be the councillors