PERHAPS Simon Wiles, head of financial services, will explain why the Council Tax Demand Notice for 2002/3 shows a charge of +8.1 per cent on last year's tax and not the true figure of +9.62 per cent (Letters, April 1).

I hope City of York Council's budget deliberations and final decisions have not been distorted by other simple arithmetic mistakes. Regarding the level of increase in the local tax, and the comparison with other unitary councils, surely one of the most important factors is whether taxpayers are receiving best value for their money and not bureaucratic employees and their political masters congratulating themselves in keeping the increases down to three times the rate of inflation.

S McLean,

Dringthorpe Road,

York.

Updated: 10:30 Monday, April 22, 2002