IT seems somewhat disingenuous of City of York Council to have asked us to vote for whether we prefer the council tax to rise by five per cent, seven-and-a-half per cent or ten per cent.

There might well be a natural tendency for the majority to opt for the lowest rate thus leaving the council at liberty to impose such an increase claiming, in doing so, that it has been endorsed by the ratepayers.

Using the same method, the council might well have sought the voters' opinions between, say, ten per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent.

Quite understandably ten per cent would be the preferred option but that in no way would render it either just or acceptable.

There was a large degree of blackmail in the argument that if one did not vote for an increase of ten per cent the services would have to be be cut. This sought to put a moral onus on the respondent with the message: vote for only five per cent and note the list of deprivations to be suffered by your fellow citizens!

Our council tax has increased by over 35 per cent in three years. It seems that there will be no limit to council taxes to be paid if we, the citizens, continue to condone these ever increasing levies. The pockets of the ratepayers are not bottomless.

I believe a concerted effort should be made to aim for a council tax increase no greater than the rate of inflation by reducing waste within the council's operations and fighting far harder for a fairer grant from central government.

Enough is enough!

A L Gregory,

Millgates,

York.

Updated: 11:34 Wednesday, January 12, 2005