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New Year - New council tax rip-off

Jaimie Kanwar

Council tax bills in England are set to rise by about 4% this year, according to the BBC...

A Local Government Association study of 100 draft council budgets suggests some councils may put bills up by nearly 5%.  The projected charge for an average Band D property for 2007-8 will be £1,373, the research suggests.  The Association has warned that many local authorities will still have to ration or cut services despite the increases in tax.

Council tax has more than doubled since 1997. And some local government experts say the only way to slow the increases is to reform the system radically.

Ministers say there is "no excuse" for large increases and have threatened to use capping powers. If increases were to continue at such a rate, householders would be paying out £1,500 a year on average by 2011. A Band D property is one valued as costing between £68,001 and £88,000.

Government to blame

The chairman of the LGA, Sir Simon Milton, said: "No-one likes paying more council tax, but this year town halls are making enormous efforts to keep bills down. Several government departments are shifting extra costs on to councils while limiting funding from central government.

In Hampshire, one of the councils where bills will go up by nearly 5%, the authority's leader Cllr Ken Thornberry blames Whitehall for creating the situation. "We are being asked to do more and more every year by central government with less and less. The system is not sustainable."

But John Healey, the local government minister, said: "There's no excuse for excessive council tax rises. "We expect them to be substantially below 5% this year and we will use the capping powers that we've got to protect local council tax payers."