WHY has the local tax become such an issue in a national election?

The answer is found in today's survey by York firm CPP Card Protection Plan.

People are more anxious about being able to afford spiralling council tax bills than paying off their mortgage or credit card, the Holgate Road company discovered.

Because elections are won or lost on voters' perceived financial prospects, the council tax debate has broken free from the town hall and taken centre stage in this campaign.

Quite right too.

While local authorities inevitably take the flak for increased bills, council tax accounts for only a quarter of what they spend.

The Treasury funds the rest, and therefore determines the size of the annual rise. Central Government increasingly dictates where this money goes, too.

Councils are stuck in a Whitehall-tailored fiscal straitjacket and local accountability is eroded. While income tax stays level, council tax has rocketed by 93 per cent in the last ten years.

To make matters worse, a revaluation of every home in England could see many households hit by huge increases in their bills in 2007.

The Conservatives have pledged to scrap that reassessment, while the Liberal Democrats want to introduce a local income tax.

Labour is waiting for the outcome of a review of council tax, which is due at the end of the year. By then, of course, the election will long be over.

Updated: 11:17 Tuesday, April 26, 2005