Town halls fail to collect £1.2bn council tax...yet plead poverty!
LoCAL authorities have been left with a financial black hole of more than £1.2billion after failing to collect council tax.
Cash-strapped councils are facing huge gaps in funding as a result of unpaid charges.
Scotland’s 32 local authorities are owed a total of £1,230,007,000, with debts dating back to 1993 when council tax was introduced, official figures show.
In 2016-2017, officials failed to collect more than £89million from residents, a collection rate of only 95.8 per cent and one that could prove to be a record low for tax paid within a financial year.
It comes as town hall chiefs have increased council tax bills and cut vital services such as education in an attempt to tackle budget cuts set by the Scottish Government.
The SNP’s budget for next year will see £170million wiped from local authority budgets, with council chiefs forced to increase council tax by the maximum 3 per cent.
Yesterday, politicians and campaigners demanded the Government acts to improve collection.
Scottish Conservative local government spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘It’s understandable that a 100 per cent collection rate is unrealistic.
‘But to think more than £1billion in council tax has gone uncollected is incredible. This money would ease deficits and improve services.
‘It’s unfair that some have to pay council tax while others don’t, and this is something the Scottish Government should address.’
Figures released by the Government show the £1.2billion owed to local authorities in council tax is up by £89,396,000 in only one year from the previous total debt of £1,140,611,000.
The collection rate in 2015-16 was 95.2 per cent, though this has since risen to 96.4 per cent thanks to debt paid after the end of the financial year.
Government officials insist the rate of collection could yet rise in the next 12 months, but although the collection rate rose slightly over the year, the level of council tax paid by residents has been dropping over the past five years.
The Government figures show North Lanarkshire remains the council with the lowest rate of collection at 94 per cent, followed by East Ayrshire with 94.1 per cent and Midlothian on 94.5 per cent.
Glasgow City and South Ayrshire had a collection rate of 94.9 per cent. Edinburgh City’s rate of collection was 96.6 per cent, Dundee City was 93.4 per cent and Aberdeen City was 95.2 per cent.
Alex Wild, research director of TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Councillors often claim they are in charge of big “businesses” but no business would survive if it didn’t bother to make so many of its customers pay.
‘Collecting council tax should be easier than ever given technological advances, so clearly something is going badly wrong.’
Earlier this year, the SNP and Greens passed a Government budget which will see £170million cut from council spending.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay had planned to cut £327million from local authority budgets, but following a deal with the Greens this was reduced.
However, local authorities have admitted services in education may suffer, with libraries and museums reducing staff and services because of ‘pressures’ on council finances.
A spokesman for council umbrella body Cosla said: ‘Councils have an excellent track record in collecting unpaid council tax.
‘Councils will always pursue outstanding debts robustly and, in many cases, will have reached agreement with those in debt, to bring their arrears up to date.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Council tax collection rates are steadily improving.’