People’s money concerns must be considered in big decisions (From The Argus)

People’s money concerns must be considered in big decisions

8:10am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Your Argus

AS A resident, I am astounded at the statements made by Brighton and Hove City Council regarding a proposed 3.5% increase in council tax for 2012. The Government has already offered a grant of 2.5%, on the condition there is no increase in council tax. That is what most councils are doing, and many readers living in adjacent areas will not have to pay any more in council tax than last year.

The difference between the Government’s offer and council’s potential requirement would be 1%. The Greens say it is only a few pence a week, but what they appear to forget is the majority of residents are already struggling to pay bills, having probably not received a wage rise for some time.

To impose an increase of 3.5%, together with declining the Government’s offer of 2.5%, demonstrates the Green Party does not understand or appreciate the situation of the working people of this city and thinks it can tread all over them. The same party alleges that if it does not pursue an increase of 3.5% this year, it will have to increase council tax in a future year by 8%.

I am not a mathematician, but should it accept this 2.5%, the council will only be 1% short of its proposed spend for 2012. It is nonsense to say that if it does not receive the additional 1%, a future increase of 8% will be required. Had the Greens decided to increase council tax by more that 3.5%, they would be required to hold a referendum, the result of which is a foregone conclusion. So there’s no chance of them taking that route.

What the Greens need to do is to examine expenditure from the top down rather than bottom up, reduce it by at least 1%, keep council tax at the level it was in 2011 and accept the Government’s grant of 2.5%. That is what most sensible people in this city would do, and the Green Party is there to represent residents and take full account of their concerns, financial and otherwise.

Mike Stimpson, Milner Road, Brighton

I AM horrified by council plans to inflate traders’ parking permits from £350 a year to £750, in order to meet its budget target. As a sole trader, working primarily in property maintenance and as an odd-job man, I can visit up to ten different properties across the city every day. Sometimes this is during an emergency, such as a water leak. My annual profit after tax is about £15,000 a year. I have a wife and two children to support.

I have suffered in silence as our standard of living has slipped due to the price of fuel escalating, but to hear the council plans to more than double the price of a permit for traders to park is just a kick in the teeth to small businesses trying to keep going. This dramatic increase could force me, and many other “one-man-bands”, out of business. My working wage will no longer be viable. I find it hard enough to pay the mortgage, bills and put food on the table as it is, without now being forced out of a job by this ill-considered scheme.

I hope the council will make enough money from those few businesses which can afford to pay to house my family when I can no longer afford to pay my mortgage. I sincerely ask Councillor Ian Davey, cabinet member for transport and the public realm, to reconsider this proposal. It will impact dramatically on many small businesses.

name and address supplied