LAST month the city council further increased its deficit by about £20,000 on a pointless "consultation" exercise, not on its proposed budget but solely on the next inflation-busting level of council tax they intend to impose on us.

This shameless impertinence was designed to dilute culpability for their own wasteful incompetence by attempting to spread acquiescence to its long-suffering, captive tax victims.

What sort of consultation is that?

Will they not admit that this tax hike is directly related to their own spending levels on which, of course, there was no consultation?

Had there been we may have become aware that their constantly out-of-control staffing costs eat up a huge proportion of their available budget, including our contribution to their protected, blue-chip pension schemes.

Neither would we have known that the council's latest audited accounts (for 2003/04) reveal the astonishing statistic that in April 2003 the number of senior officers salaried at more than £50,000, equivalent to an MP, was 26.

In the one year to April 2004 this had almost doubled to 46.

That alone represents an additional cost of about £1.4 million and is itself equivalent to a three per cent increase in council tax.

In April 2000 the number of officials in this expensive category was seven.

Even allowing for negotiated pay settlements at around inflation, these figures demand an explanation. Central government has certainly reached York city level with a costly vengeance.

On February 22, when our Lib Dem councillors once again set an above-inflation tax increase, they should realise that this time they are on their own.

Their "consultation" was a sham and we will not be associated with it.

Ken Beavan,

Albemarle Road, York.

Updated: 11:43 Friday, February 04, 2005