Council Tax and Car Parks

Coming to a car park near you?

At the meeting of the Strategy Committee held last Thursday Councillors were given a sight of the budgets not only for the current financial year to March 2008, but also for the year to March 2009. The forward budget is important because its outcome dictates the size of the increase in Council Tax…a question that I am sure exercises most of the readers of this blog.

Babergh has done very well over recent years with regard to the level of Council Tax, the Council’s being the second lowest in Suffolk. In addition for five years the increase has been no higher than the rate of inflation. I understand that following public consultation some years ago the Council committed itself to keeping rises in the tax to the level of inflation, and this promise has, to date, been kept. However life is now becoming a lot more difficult.

The grant that the Government gives to District Council, having been quite good ahead of the elections in May 2007, will over the next three years be considerably lower than inflation. However, the services that Government expects to be delivered remain unchanged. The bottom line for Babergh therefore looking forward is that, although next year is likely to see an in-line with inflation outcome, 2009/10 will be much more problematical.

It is difficult not to come to the conclusion that the Government is well aware of the fact that the electorate is unlikely to welcome further increases in tax from the centre, but is vainly hoping that people may not notice that Council Tax is rising inexorably. To some extent this may be true, since many natural Labour voters do not pay the tax which is covered for those on benefits by Council Tax Benefit.

Be that as it many, it is against the background of a deteriorating financial position at Babergh that the revival of the debate about car parking charges in the District should be viewed.

At the same Strategy meeting we were asked to approve the payment of £89,000 for ticket machines to be installed in car parks in Hadleigh and Sudbury. These, we were assured would not be for charging purposes, but to improve the productivity of the phantom traffic warden who allegedly haunts the streets of both towns.(Yes! There has been a very occasional sighting!)

I decided to abstain from voting for this proposal.

My reasons for this were twofold; firstly I felt that no sensible financial case had been made for the erection of these non-paying machines to assist the virtually non appearing traffic warden, and secondly I do believe that a debate about car parking should be an in depth and holistic discussion that examines all the issues. Erecting these machines now is seen by most people as a sly little measure that represents the thin edge of a predictable wedge.