Council Tax Rise Amongst Highest In Country

3.39.21pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 13th Apr 2004

Latest figures show Bedford Boroughs council tax rise to be the 11th highest of the country's 238 shire districts. This has sparked anger from local Liberal Democrats who campaigned to see council tax reduced and services saved for borough residents.

The figures released by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister show that the boroughs rise of 11.8% far exceeds that of many other similar authorities. Now Liberal Democrats are worried that unless the other parties seriously consider the impact of such high increases more rises could be on the way next year.

Speaking on the issue Lib Dem Group leader, Michael Headley said:

"It is shocking that council tax has risen to such a level. We put forward clear suggestions that would have kept council tax down as well as protecting more services. Our proposal would have meant a 4% lower council tax. Half of that could be achieved by better use of the council's reserves and the other 2% by not collecting green waste bins in the winter. The council should look at its own resources first, before it starts demanding more from local taxpayers. Better Bedford, the Tories and Labour all opted to ignore this, turning their backs on local residents in the interests of their own secret deals.

When you look at the figures for council tax rises across the country Bedford's rise is extreme. Of the 238 shire districts Bedford's rise is the 11th highest. What's more many of the shire districts who suffered higher rises than the Borough still have a lower total charge than we do. It's bad enough that people still have to put up with an outdated and unfair system like council tax but rises like this just rub salt into the wounds.

Local people are asking me why the council tax has gone up so much and why are the car parks so expensive. The answer is because Labour the Tories and the Mayor decided to ignore better alternatives. Our proposal would only need the use of 0.7% of the council's £37million reserves. If they had listened to this simple suggestion, we would all have had more services and less council tax."

ENDS