Survey reveals many residents now back a rise in council tax
MORE than half of those surveyed as part of a Highland Council citizens’ panel said they would pay an extra £10 in council tax each month to save front line services and schools.
But while 61 per cent of the panel wanted to pay more council tax, only two per cent of the respondents – less than 20 people – came from the Lochaber area and Mallaig.
Moving away from the Scottish Government’s Council Tax freeze would see the local authority possibly having to save up to £ 38 million from its budget over three years if it breaks the Council Tax agree- ment. Yet at a special meeting of the Highland Council last Thursday in Inverness, the proposals gave some ‘relief’ to the leader of the council, who said that Highland people were thinking the ‘same as my own community’ over proposals to raise the council tax next month.
Council leader Margaret Davidson said the results of a budget consultation survey into raising the tax was ‘mindful’ of the fact that cuts will have a wider impact.
‘There is no proposal for an 18 per cent rise yet. But people are mindful of the cuts that will need to be made.’
The survey into the council tax was taken when the local
authority thought it had around £10 million worth of savings to be made.
Councillor Bill Clark, speak- ing at the special meeting, said: ‘By lifting the council tax we hit the working poor where every pound counts. Everyone [surveyed] who wants to lift the council tax freeze can well afford it. A Convention of Scottish Local Authorities spokesperson said last week local government in Scotland had restructured and it hadn’t worked. Savings could still not be made. We need to have local decision-making powers to make decisions for our constituents. Many people talk about it in here. If we want to save money then we need to get back to smaller local authorities representing local people.’
Councillor Richard Laird said the council should not dismiss results the council had through a Facebook page and online web chat. ‘I want to encourage the council against putting too much emphasis on the survey and not enough on the Facebook chat.’
He felt respondents to the survey were not representative of people within Highland Council areas. He stressed the differences of the Highland population not just through age but through demographic and that social media results should not be ignored. The survey results were welcomed by the majority at the special council meeting and will now be part of the papers for the budget setting meeting on February 25.
People are mindful of the cuts that will need to be made ”