Tories hit out at council tax hike
Claims16,000 will be affected
Tories have hit out at proposed changes to the Council Tax which they say will add up to 22.5 per cent to the bills of almost 16,000 Stirling area households in the higher bands.
Stirling Council’s finance and economy committee was set to discuss the calculated impact on Stirling residents at a meeting yesterday (Thursday).
The changes have been introduced by the Scottish Government in a bid to raise extra money to boost educational attainment across the country.
It has been calculated that measures outlined will affect 15,518 households in the Stirling area.
From April of next year, Band E properties will be expected to pay an additional £105.34 per year, Band F £222.64, Band G £350.64 and Band H £538.65.
Council officers have estimated that this will raise a further £3.6m from council taxpayers in Stirling area.
However, Tory councillors say it is likely this money will not all be spent in Stirling as it will be subjected to a “pooling” arrangement which will take money from Stirling for spending in areas like Dundee and Glasgow.
Finance committee convener and leader of the council’s Conservative Group Neil Benny said: “Many people will be sympathetic to the idea of raising more money for schools, but the level of tax increases is way in excess of what would be reasonable.
“Expecting people to find all these additional taxes on top of what they are already paying is unfair and unrealistic. This affects almost half the households in Stirling.
“To add insult to injury, it is unlikely that Stirling will see the full benefit of this money as the centralising SNP government under Nicola Sturgeon wants to take it and spend it in Glasgow as usual.
“Scottish Conservatives stand squarely against these tax rises.”
SNP councillor Gerry McLaughlan said, however: “We can only assume that Councillor Benny is speaking on behalf of the Tory/Labour coalition of which he is depute leader. It is astonishing that they are so strongly against raising sufficient funds to tackle the education attainment gap - ensuring that all children and young people have the same chances in life no matter their background - and properly funding local services, something that his Administration has failed to do since seizing power in 2012.
“What he conveniently forgets is that those who live in higher council tax bands but receive low incomes will see no rise in their council tax whatsoever, whilst parents with young children will see an increase in their child premium – protections described as ‘robust’ by council officers in the very same report Councillor Benny is quoting from.
“After 10 years of an SNP Council Tax freeze – saving the average household £1,500 - we are in the process of moving to a fairer system of local taxation for Scotland where those with the broadest shoulders who are able to pay carry a slightly bigger burden than those on low incomes who are often struggling to make ends meet.”
Councillor McLaughlan also accused Councillor Benny of “muddled thinking”, adding: “He complains about an SNP Government allocating money centrally, at the exact time he is asking the same government to allocate hundreds of millions of pounds to Stirling, away from the rest of Scotland, as part of the City Deal. You couldn’t make it up.”