Peter
Viggers, MP for the Gosport constituency, warned that council
tax bills could soar next year in the area. Local government
leaders nationally have advised that a shortfall in government
funding will force council tax bills across the country to
rise by four times the rate of inflation. In Gosport this
would add an extra £126 on Band D bills, taking the
yearly tax bill to £1,224 – equivalent to a monthly
bill of £102.
Peter said, “Local
government leaders, from all parties, have warned that
council tax could rocket for yet another
year. The Labour Government has turned council tax into a
stealth tax, and next year residents could end up paying
large increases yet again. Whitehall bureaucrats have rigged
local funding to take resources away from councils, forcing
them to increase taxes to prevent cuts in frontline public
services. Councils have also had to bear the cost of extra
burdens and regulations imposed from above.
“Liberal
Democrat plans for a new local income tax are not, however,
the answer. Soaring council tax bills are
caused by us not getting a fair deal from Whitehall.
“A potential monthly tax bill of £102 will be
all the harder to pay for working people who have suffered
from Labour’s jobs tax, supported by the Liberal Democrats,
of higher National Insurance. Gosport’s residents are
being asked to pay ever higher taxes, without the improvements
in our public services which we all want to see”. |
