Saturday, September 15, 2012

Council tax rises – different perspectives

By now, we should have all received our council tax bills and noticed that there has been a rise in the amount we have to pay. The socialist councillor, Raúl Valerio Medina complains that the average for the town is now 350 euros, an increase of 30 euros from last year.

Now of course, 30 euros is 30 euros and for households already facing a hike in VAT which rose to 21% at the start of the month it is yet another burden. As Charo Bañuls  points out though, the town is drowning in debt and that the interest alone amounts to 240,000 euros per year. She also points out that this debt was inherited from the days of Moya and then Medina and that it was they who allowed 200 households to be exempt from paying IBI.   

Putting this all into perspective, the average council tax bill in England and Wales for 2012/13 is £1,201(1,484 euros). Three hundred and fifty euros may seem a lot to bigastrense but in fact it won’t pay for very much.

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