Ken Livingstone puts ANOTHER £20 on your Council Tax (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Ken Livingstone puts ANOTHER £20 on your Council Tax

February 28, 2003 12:00 AM

London Mayor Ken Livingstone, backed by the London Labour Party, has agreed to further increase your Council Tax by another £20. In Islington this means that average Band D Council Tax in 2003-4 will rise from £1029 to £1049. This decision was taken by Ken Livingstone, and Labour members of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Labour Council Leaders. The Liberal Democrats did not support it - but there was nothing they could do. The Council Tax that Islington residents pay is made up of three elements. First, there is the London-wide precept - "Ken's Tax" - which goes to fund bodies like Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, and the Fire Authority. In 1998-99 this amount was £113.60. Next year it will be £224.60 - doubled in just five years. Second, there is the amount paid to certain other London wide "levying bodies". For Islington most of this goes to the Labour-run North London Waste Authority. In 1998-99 this was £104.87. Next year it will be £128.39 - a significant rise of more than 20% over five years. But the third and biggest part is the money that goes to Islington Council itself. In 1998-99 this was £693.53. Next year it will be £696.42 - in other words just a tiny rise of only £2.89 over five years. At a time of real financial pressures this means that Islington Council will be collecting just £2.89 a year more from Band D houses than it was five years ago. This increase is less than 1% over five years - while inflation has gone up by 14% over the same period. Residents will be paying a lot more Council Tax than they were in 1998 - but this is almost all because of huge increases in Ken's Tax, helped by a rise in increases from the North London Waste Authority. Cllr Paul Fox, Executive Member for Resources, said "There are not many politicians who have doubled tax levels in just five years - but Ken Livingstone has managed it. Another greedy increase of nearly a third this year follows large increases in each previous year. "Labour GLA members and Labour Council Leaders have let their true high-tax instincts come through, in supporting him. And the Labour Government haven't helped - they have given us less of an increase than most Councils in London, and they asked us to increase Council Tax by 31%. "The contrast with the way Liberal Democrats run Islington Council could not be more clear. The Council Tax we take from residents is rising by less than 1% over 5 years. "By careful planning are still going to be able to invest an extra £9.8 million in schools next year, and an extra £3.3 million in social services. "Islington Liberal Democrats are determined to keep taxes low, get value for money for residents, while investing in areas the public care about." &nbsp