Should taxpayers have the chance to vote on council budgets?
Today's revelation that the UK government is looking to give local taxpayers the opportunity to vote on above average council tax rises in the UK is certainly a very different approach to the subject but is it workable?
On one hand there is no doubt that councils and other local authority should be more accountable to local taxpayers but on the other hand surely we vote in a council to do a particular "job". The time and expense of referendums, to agree or disagree about council tax rises above the level of the retail price index, may well impact upon the provision of local services themselves. So would you prefer to vote upon your council tax rise for next year?
While there is obviously demand from taxpayers to have some form of input with regards to local council tax, do we really need a referendum each and every time our local council increases council taxes above and beyond the retail price index?
If you replicate the cost of a potential referendum each year across the councils of the UK then potentially we could end up spending millions of pounds of hard-earned money on nothing more than "window arranging".
Share this..
Related stories
Isle of Man forced to increase taxes and reduce spending
In a move prompted by the UK government's claw back of £140 million in annual tax receipts, the Isle of Man authorities have confirmed the introduction of higher taxes and reduced public sector spending. Government spending on the island will fall by £49 million a year, almost 10% of the annual budget, by 2015 and the rate of income tax will increase from 18% to 20%. Last year we saw the UK g...
Read MoreLegal aid system under review
In what many believe is a long-awaited review of the legal aid system, Kenneth Clarke has announced a review of the service with a potential 25% saving targeted for the short to medium term. This is a system which has attracted fury from the UK public and increased dramatically in size and cost over the last 20 years. The UK government has made clear, from day one, that no one department will be i...
Read MoreTax scams on the increase
HM Revenue and Customs has revealed that 83,000 scam e-mails were sent to UK taxpayers, supposedly from the tax authorities, in September 2009 alone. On one day it was reported that 10,000 of these "phishing" e-mail were received which are nothing more than scams to get your personal details. Unfortunately, while 83,000 attempted scams have been reported, many more which have either been ignored o...
Read MoreNon-domicile party supporters active in UK politics
As the fury surrounding Lord Ashcroft's revelation that he is a non-domicile continues to grow, it has also been revealed that the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrat party have all accepted political donations from non-domiciles. This revelation would appear to scupper Lord Mandelson's involvement in the situation with the announcement that he has asked the House of Lords to reconsider Lord Ash...
Read More£15 Million For Your Own Tax Haven
In a move, the like of which has not been seen for many years, one of the eight inhabited Channel Islands is being put up for sale at a price of £15 million. The owners of Herm, Pennie and Adrian Heyworth, took over the running of the island from Pennie's father but they have now decided to call it a day. In common with other Channel Island residents, the new owners of the Herm lease would on...
Read More