Want to Get In Touch?You can e-mail your comments and contributions to us directly.Just ClickHERE.A Below Average Piece of SpinIt’s the same spin we have grown used to over the years:“The average council tax paid in Hartlepool is now the 220th lowest out of all 319 local authorities in England.” Hartlepool Mail.The ‘average’ to which Councillor Brash, The Mayor and the council Administration are referring, (and are desperate for us to focus on) is the £1,118 shown in the table to the left. It is the calculated average amount of council tax paid by householders in Hartlepool. As a statistic, the figure has one main weakness - no one pays it. In fact, everyone above Band A pays more.It’s a neat trick. Because of the high proportion of Band A and Band B properties in Hartlepool, by averaging out all payments the Council receives the administration can produce a low overall average figure . But it’s a meaningless figure. It’s meaningless because people are more interested in how their own council tax compares with others around the country living in similar properties and that is were the spin breaks down.What householders actually pay is also shown in the table along with the average payment for each band in England. Even householders in a Band A property are forced to pay a council tax 13% higher than the average English Band A council tax.According to figures from the Government’s own Department of Local Government, the lowest council tax anyone in Hartlepool must pay is currently £1,086 for a Band A property. That figure is the 5th highest Band A charge by any local authorityin England out of 319 authorities; the same is true for all other bands. What’s more, with many other authorities currently increasing their charges for next year well below Hartlepool’s 2.5% increase (excluding precepts) that chart position is only going to get worse. Darlington, for example, a Labour controlled authority, has just set an increase of 0% which in Hartlepool we are told by Cllr Brash is impossible.Figures release by the Department for Local Government and Communities have revealed that Hartlepool Borough Council now charges the third highest council tax of all 326 local authorities in England. Although spun by HBC as ‘the lowest tax increase in 14 years’, Hartlepool’s 2.6% increase for the year 2010/11 has proven to be well above the national average increase of just 1.8% and enough to continue the town’s relentless rise up the council tax charts. Now only Rutland and Weymouth charge a lower tax.Councils have been hit by a large part to a decline in sales of land and buildings, lower interest rates on cash deposits and reduced revenue from planning applications, car parking and leisure services.Hartlepool Borough Council voted to increase council tax by 2.6%. This is one of the highest increases in England.contactssite mapwrite for us
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Touch?
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directly.
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A Below Average Piece of Spin
It’s the same spin we have grown used to over
the years:
“The average council tax paid in Hartlepool is
now the 220th lowest out of all 319 local
authorities in England.” Hartlepool Mail.
The ‘average’ to which Councillor Brash, The
Mayor and the council Administration are
referring, (and are desperate for us to focus
on) is the £1,118 shown in the table to the left.
It is the calculated average amount of council
tax paid by householders in Hartlepool. As a
statistic, the figure has one main weakness -
no one pays it. In fact, everyone above Band A
pays more.
It’s a neat trick. Because of the high proportion
of Band A and Band B properties in Hartlepool,
by averaging out all payments the Council
receives the administration can produce a low
overall average figure . But it’s a meaningless
figure. It’s meaningless because people are more interested in how their own council tax compares with
others around the country living in similar properties and that is were the spin breaks down.
What householders actually pay is also shown in the table along with the average payment for each
band in England. Even householders in a Band A property are forced to pay a council tax 13% higher
than the average English Band A council tax.
According to figures from the Government’s own Department of Local Government, the lowest council
tax anyone in Hartlepool must pay is currently £1,086 for a Band A property. That figure is the 5th
highest Band A charge by any local authority in England out of 319 authorities; the same is true for all
other bands. What’s more, with many other authorities currently increasing their charges for next year
well below Hartlepool’s 2.5% increase (excluding precepts) that chart position is only going to get worse.
Darlington, for example, a Labour controlled authority, has just set an increase of 0% which in Hartlepool
we are told by Cllr Brash is impossible.
Figures release by the Department for Local
Government and Communities have revealed that
Hartlepool Borough Council now charges the third
highest council tax of all 326 local authorities in
England.
Although spun by HBC as ‘the lowest tax increase in 14
years’, Hartlepool’s 2.6% increase for the year 2010/11 has
proven to be well above the national average increase of
just 1.8% and enough to continue the town’s relentless rise
up the council tax charts. Now only Rutland and Weymouth
charge a lower tax.
Councils have been hit by a large part to a decline in sales
of land and buildings, lower interest rates on cash deposits and reduced revenue from planning
applications, car parking and leisure services.
Hartlepool Borough Council voted to increase council tax by 2.6%. This is one of the highest increases
in England.
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